Subscribe to Breaking NewsInternal Report Shows Multiple Violations in Fort Worth Raid
An internal Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission report shows that the agents who participated in the raid of the Rainbow Lounge on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots did not have official approval to make the raid in the first place.
The internal investigation is still going on, and the Fort Worth city council has asked the Dallas U.S. attorney’s office to investigate as well.
The TABC agents involved were not scheduled to be taking part in any raids, and in fact were supposed to be supervising a motorcross event.
The TABC is still investigating the incident that left Chad Gibson in the hospital with a brain injury. The TABC agents and police officers involved say that they used force after Gibson slapped or groped one of the officers in the groin, but multiple witnesses at the bar say that no such thing happened, and the officers had no physical provocation.
Read the full story in the Dallas News.
I live in Arkansas, of all places, and Little Rock’s biggest gay bar (and we have several) actually gets police protection on Saturday evenings–it’s biggest night. Little Rock officers are on-site to prevent any untoward actions from would-be gay bashers.
Arkansas has generally been more hostile toward gays than Texas has, so it’s surprising that this would happen to a Texas gay club when ours is actually protected by law enforcement, rather than harassed by it.
eli01: Are you sure?! You are wrong about the story not having legs. It has been all over mainstream media: TV, print, electronic. I am very happy that the NATIONAL outlets have covered it and covered it well. Also, it has gotten a lot of good, mainstream TV coverage in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Those us in Dallas/Ft. Worth are very pleased with the mainstream coverage.
>I’m waiting for the outrage from the White House about the police acting stupidly.
Be fair! The White House was not “outraged” and it did not offer a statement on its own in regard to the Cambridge, MA incident. It was a direct response to a reporter’s question.
So, someone needs to ask him the question, first.
Bash Obama if you will, but bash him fairly!
They are so hosed!
Imagine that! Guys acting like “cowboys”–in a bad way–in Texas.
This is interesting to me, because I have owned a bar and have friends with gay bar’s. We have never had a “raid”, or anything like it. The ABC has come in to check permits and such, but usually done by 1 person and it is very discrete. It sounds to me like these “raids” are done by select officers on a personal mission, that are not sanctioned by headquarters.
It is sad to see that the LGBTQ community in some states are still undergoing “witch hunts”.
Who ever gave the orders to raid the bar should be held accountable for their action.
I have always had mostly respect for the police as their job, we all know, is not an easy one. It’s when they act like the Gestapo and all stick together in their cover-up lies that I despise them for their actions. They will probably get away with most of this in Texas as we all know it is a strong RED state with a real prick governor and Bush as a new neighbor.
@KaninZ–I got up from reading your post, laughing to myself while I got a beer, and I’m laughing harder now than when I started. Thanks!
@Trace–as we both know, there’s a difference between good ol’ boy, redneck, and sociopath. There are plenty of Texas cops who’re good ol’ boys, and some who are rednecks. (My ex is an Ohio native and a prison guard, and the day that he tried to pry open a stuck trailer door with a shotgun–business end braced against his sternum–I knew he had more redneck than I knew was possible.) Neither a good ol’ boy nor a redneck is stupid enough to automatically think they could do something so boneheaded and face no consequences for it. Of course, a sociopath trippin’ on the power of a badge would be prone to just such a god complex. Like a surgeon’s ego, but without the brain.
The deeper this goes, the more it’s good to see that it was an isolated incident. The Fort Worth Chief of Police did his force a disservice by immediately justifying the raid. There was no excuse for it, the cops shouldn’t have acted as they did, and the fact that the ABC agents were supposed to be at a motocross event (was it drag motocross? Might explain things) only makes the officers who were present look even more incompetent. A badge gives you power, but it doesn’t give you the right to abuse power. The vast majority of TABC agents and Fort Worth cops do their job to at least a competent level, without rage, discrimination or a general chip on the shoulder. Let’s play a part in making sure the focus stays on the wrongdoers.
Yes, these clowns have also opened the door to lawsuits. That would be an appropriate response. It would be equally appropriate for both the City of Fort Worth and the State of Texas to serve up the wrongdoers to justice, because they damn near killed a man for no remotely justifiable reason.
Sounds like some good ole boys got the notion in their heads to “stomp some faggot ass” on the anniversary of Stonewall.
How’s that working out for ya? I hope Internal Affairs gives you all colonoscopies to put an anal probe by insincere alien Greys to shame!
You should have all spent the night at home fondling yourselves to “Walker, Texas Ranger” re-runs again instead of attacking gay Americans!
Gay TEXANS to boot…them queer steers have horns too!
Here’s to you taking the long-horn of the law where it’ll do ya the most good
/salute
The Houston Police have nothing to do with this incident, it’s Fort Worth, west of Dallas. a grope has now become a slap to the groin?? I can’t believe these officers didn’t do the first simple steps of the paperwork to cover their behinds!! The TABC’s frist press conference stressed the good procedures and supervision they have. Scary! Not at the right event, don’t do paper work, the supervisor/Sarge, wasn’t present, Help me understand this. Seems rather SNAFU to me or totally FUBAR.
I’m waiting for the outrage from the White House about the police acting stupidly. Of course, I really don’t expect it. Now if Obama had had a beer with us, maybe he’d comment. As it is, this story doesn’t seem to have many legs beyond the gay press.
Why is 365Gay directing readers to the Dallas Morning News’ site? The real story is at the local gay newspaper: http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_11678.php
Support local gay newspapers, not the Dallas Morning News which is no friend to the GLBT community!
The Dallas Voice has been reporting on the story from hour one.
The police are just trying to lie their way out of this one, and the TABC will probably get verbal warnings for the mistakes that they made. People wonder why, most don’t support the police. It’s because of crap like this. I wouldn’t trust an officer as far as I could throw him. There are a few good ones out there, but the ones like the Houston police department, think they can get away with anything. They expect to get a slap on their wrists and let free to do this again.
I’m sure police are reading this and taking down my information, but I’m sick of the police thinking that they are “GODS”.
This gets better all the time. I’m just trying to imagine how these agents mistook the Rainbow Lounge for a motorcross event?
I am looking forward to the multi-million dollar judgment against both the state organization AND in the civil suits against the employees involved.
Of course, once they have been terminated from their jobs.