Melissa Jacques
Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY — A disability advocate was arrested during the public comment section of Thursday’s meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education, accused under a 3-year-old law of disrupting state business.
Audra Beasley, 45, was handcuffed and taken away in an Oklahoma Highway Patrol vehicle after she persisted in her message despite her time for public comment having expired. She pointed at Superintendent Ryan Walters, saying “You are an obnoxious bigot and bully!”
The statute under which Beasley was arrested, according to a Department of Public Safety spokeswoman, was passed as Senate Bill 403 in 2021. It criminalizes disrupting state business, such as open meetings, and defines disruption as “conduct that is violent, threatening, abusive, obscene, or that jeopardizes the safety of self or others.”
People are also reading…
Beasley had signed up to speak for three minutes, and her message centered on disability access for her son Max.
“You have intentionally denied my child restroom access in this building,” she said.
Max uses a wheelchair and requires specific accommodations because he has spina bifida, a condition in which the spinal cord does not properly develop. Beasley wants adult-size changing tables to be a requirement for restrooms in state buildings so she can properly care for Max.
She held up a table she brought to the meeting to leave behind, saying she had been directed to change her son on the restroom floor at the Oliver Hodge Building, where the board meets.
A state trooper reaches for his handcuffs to arrest Audra Beasley, 45, of Oklahoma City, during Thursday’s meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education in front of her three children. Her youngest, who uses a wheelchair, sobbed as his brother used his public comment time to ask State Superintendent Ryan Walters, “Why are you bullying kids?”
During her comments, Beasley also berated the board for the policies it has supported around gender identity policies in schools. She says this is a concern for her because one of her children is “part of a sex and gender minority group.”
Once her three minutes elapsed, Walters called for Beasley’s other son, Wesley, who also had signed up to speak, to make his public comments. He asked simply: “Why are you bullying kids? The disabled — my brother — the gay, the trans. Why?”
As he awaited an answer from Walters, Beasley continued to direct comments at Walters and demand accommodations for her disabled son.
Beasley has advocated for “Max’s Law,” which passed through the House in the 2022 legislative session with the support of Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City. The legislation would have required an adult-sized changing table in a state Capitol restroom, but the bill died in a Senate committee.
Beasley said she was appointed by former Gov. Mary Fallin to the Interagency Coordinating Council and served at the Capitol for three years in a volunteer position, according to her website. She unsuccessfully ran for a City Council seat in Oklahoma City last year.
Audra Beasley, 45, of Oklahoma City, is arrested at Thursday’s Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting.
Still waiting at the podium for his three minutes of public comment time to elapse, Wesley watched as his mother was handcuffed by a state trooper. As she continued to shout about the superintendent “picking on trans kids, picking on disabled kids,” Max sobbed audibly.
“This is crazy. Ryan Walters,” Wesley said. He and his siblings were later picked up from the Oliver Hodge Building by a family friend prior to Beasley’s being released from custody.
Walters declined to comment on the arrest.
The Tulsa World is where your story lives
The Tulsa World newsroom is committed to covering this community with curiosity, tenacity and depth. Our passion for telling the story of Tulsa remains unwavering. Because your story is our story. Thank you to our subscribers who support local journalism. Join them with limited-time offers at tulsaworld.com/story.
