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Christian youtuber attacked at Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre in Denver Colorado

Writer: Douglas Vandergraph
Douglas Vandergraph
6 minutes ago
3 min read

Last night, my daughters and I went to Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado expecting a concert.

We left feeling unsafe, angry, and abandoned.

I am a Christian YouTube creator, a father, a stroke survivor, and a disabled man. Because of my disability, I specifically paid for handicap-accessible seating.

I bought four seats—seats 1, 2, 3, and 4—even though there were three of us because I needed the additional space for personal items I have to bring with me.

I paid for every seat.

During the evening, an apparently intoxicated woman approached us and began yelling and cursing because one of those paid seats did not have a person sitting in it.

That seat was not available.

It was mine.

We eventually had to find security.

Security checked our tickets and confirmed that we had every right to be sitting exactly where we were.

Then the security employee walked over to the people who had been confronting us, appeared friendly with them, fist-bumped them, returned to us, told us to find him if anything else happened, and walked away.

Find him where?

I am disabled.

I was sitting in handicap-accessible seating with my daughters.

My daughter had already been forced to leave our area once just to find help.

Later, things became much worse.

Intoxicated people began pushing into the handicap seating area at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado.

Beer was being spilled everywhere.

Empty cans were left around us.

People were smoking, yelling, cursing, stumbling, and pushing into our space.

Our water bottles were knocked over.

My daughters were bumped and touched by strangers.

One of my daughters was hit in the head twice.

And there was no meaningful security presence protecting us.

No effective barrier.

No controlled access.

No one stationed nearby making sure the handicap area remained safe for the people who actually needed it.

We were left to fend for ourselves.

At one point, I seriously considered calling 911 because I did not know who else would help us.

That should never happen inside a professional concert venue.

I survived a stroke.

I live with physical limitations every day.

I have spent years using my Christian platform to encourage people to persevere, keep their faith, and keep moving forward when life gets difficult.

But last night, I wasn't thinking about being a creator, a public figure, or someone with an audience.

I was a disabled father trying to protect his daughters.

That is what stays with me.

Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado failed my family.

Accessibility means more than selling someone a handicap ticket.

It means giving that person a reasonable opportunity to enjoy the event safely.

It means protecting handicap seating from an uncontrolled crowd.

It means having security close enough that disabled guests are not forced to search through thousands of people for help.

It means taking complaints seriously before the situation becomes worse.

Disabled guests deserve better.

Families deserve better.

My daughters deserved better.

Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado needs to secure its handicap areas, control access, keep visible security nearby, enforce its rules, and take the safety of disabled guests seriously.

Based on our experience, I have no desire to return.

If there were ever some extraordinary reason I had to attend another event at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado, I would seriously consider bringing personal security.

That sentence alone should tell you how badly this venue failed us.

A father should not need private security to take his daughters to a concert.

Please share this.

Not because my family needs sympathy.

Share it because the next disabled person may not have a platform.

Share it because the next parent deserves to know what happened.

And share it because perhaps enough attention will force Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado to make changes before another family experiences something worse.

— Douglas Vandergraph

 
 
 

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