Disabled wheelchair-bound son 'told to leave his family's stall in Atlanta mall'
Demond Crump Sr. says he and his wife were shocked when the mall's general manager allegedly told them their 32-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, should leave their vending space.
The family had just begun setting up shop after Crump won a small business contest through Morehouse College that secured them a spot to sell at major shopping center during MLB All-Star weekend.
'Can't believe our son was discriminated against at Cumberland Mall. Special needs people can't come to the mall now?' Crump Sr. said in a video he shared on Facebook.
'I was talking to him man-to-man, father-to-father, like "man, this is my son you're speaking of," and there was just no remorse,' he told ANF News.
Crump said the incident was abrupt and came out of nowhere without provocation.
'We were setting up [and] we were told that my son couldn't be there with us,' Crump continued.
'You're saying that my son has to leave. And he's like, "Yes," and I'm like, "What is he doing?"
'This is my child. This is my son. He's a human being. At this point, I'm really shocked,' Crump Sr. said.
Crump said he confronted the manager directly.
'I come to you with tears in my eyes and I said, "Sir, do you know this is discrimination?"' Crump said. 'He said, "File whatever complaint you want. You guys can leave."'
'If my son can't stay, then we can't stay,' Crump added. 'We are leaving as well.'
'Special needs people can't come to the mall now?'
Mall ownership group Brookfield Properties later issued a statement claiming the incident was a 'misunderstanding' and welcome his family back.
'This was a deeply unfortunate situation, and we regret our poor communication that led to this misunderstanding.'
'We have reached out to Mr. Crump and welcome his family to return to our shopping center.'
But Crump does not believe it was a misunderstanding and has no plans on returning to the mall.
Dailymail.com has reached out to the Crump family.
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