As her child cried, woman removed from meeting after addressing Ryan Walters, Oklahoma board
A woman who’s long advocated for adult changing tables to be installed in public buildings was escorted in handcuffs out of the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on Thursday morning.
Five Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers took Audra Beasley out of the room while one of her children stood at a podium addressing state board members, including state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters. Another one of her children ― a younger child in a wheelchair — cried while watching his mother be led away.
One of the troopers, realizing Beasley had two children in the room, walked over to the crying child and asked if he was OK. Two people from the audience helped escort the children out of the room. Neither Walters nor any of the board members said anything.
Beasley, 45, was booked into the Oklahoma County jail on $500 bond on a misdemeanor complaint of willfully disturbing, interfering with or disrupting state business.
Beasley had just finished speaking during the public-comment portion of the meeting, at which a maximum 10 members of the public are allotted three minutes each to address board members. Beasley forcefully asked Walters what he’d done to advocate for handicapped students and said she was tired of being told by state employees to use the floor of a bathroom while changing her child.
At one point, Beasley told Walters she’d brought her own changing table for her son and then slammed a small plastic folding table onto the glass-covered board table.
When her time expired, one of her sons followed her to the podium, but Beasley continued to speak, standing by the side of the board table in the cramped board room. Troopers asked her to sit down, and when Beasley did not, they surrounded her and one of them placed handcuffs on her.
Although she raised her voice, Beasley never cursed, nor did she threaten Walters or any board member.
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After the meeting, Walters deferred to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for comment on the incident.
Beasley has spoken at previous board meetings on the same subject. Her Facebook page has a profile picture calling for the impeachment of state Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat.
in 2023, Beasley, a paralegal, ran unsuccessfully for the city's Ward 5 council seat.
During the campaign, she told The Oklahoman she is a disability rights advocate and believes more must be done to remove barriers to access that keep citizens living with intellectual and developmental disabilities isolated and discriminated against.
She also advocated for the unhoused population and pushed for trauma-informed response training for first responders.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Woman arrested at Oklahoma education meeting with Ryan Walters
