Texas officials want investigation of gay bar raid
06.30.2009 12:35pm EDT
(Fort Worth, Texas) Two city officials are seeking an investigation into a police raid at a gay nightclub that ended with the arrests of several patrons and the hospitalization of a man with a head injury.
“I’ve asked for as thorough a report as possible … to reassure folks that the police are not singling out any group,” Councilman Joel Burns said Monday.He said he was particularly disappointed that the raid occurred on the 40th anniversary of New York City police raid on the Stonewall Inn. That 1969 raid touched off a riot and subsequent demonstrations that fueled the gay rights movement in the U.S.
Burns said Fort Worth police were unaware of the anniversary.
Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks, also calling for an investigation, said she was “very concerned” after hearing from patrons and others in the community about the early Sunday morning raid at the Rainbow Lounge.
More than 100 people gathered outside the Tarrant County Courthouse on Sunday evening to protest what they said was police harassment and abuse.
One of those arrested during the raid, Chad Gibson, 26, remains hospitalized with bleeding on the brain, his sister Kristy Morgan said.
Gibson is not violent, and “for anyone to come back and say he did something to provoke this is ludicrous,” she told Dallas-Fort Worth television station KDFW.
Fort Worth police went to the Rainbow Lounge with Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents early Sunday as part of routine alcoholic beverage code inspections, said police Sgt. Chad Mahaffey. They first went to two other bars, where 10 people were arrested, he said.
Officers then went to the Rainbow Lounge, which had opened about a week ago. They encountered two drunk people who made “sexually explicit movements” toward officers and another who grabbed a TABC agent’s groin, according to the police report.
No one was arrested for assault but about half a dozen people were arrested on charges of public intoxication, according to police records.
Police Chief Jeff Halstead said Gibson was the patron who grabbed at the agent’s groin. Gibson was so drunk he was vomiting and struck his head when he fell, the chief said. Gibson was arrested, but was taken to the hospital instead of jail.
Halstead said he did not have additional details about how Gibson was injured.
The department has started an internal investigation into the raid, he said.
The TABC is waiting on a report from the Fort Worth office, but “given the concerns that have been raised, it would not be unusual” for an internal investigation to be done, said agency spokeswoman Carolyn Beck.
George Armstrong, 41, said he had been at the Rainbow Lounge about 30 minutes when officers stormed inside. He smiled and flashed a peace sign at one officer, but was then grabbed and tackled to the floor with his arm twisted behind his back, he said.
“He was yelling at me to stop resisting arrest, but I wasn’t doing anything. It was horrible. I really thought he had broken my shoulder,” Armstrong said Monday. “I’ve never been so embarrassed and humiliated. I didn’t do anything to him.”
Armstrong, who was arrested, said he noticed that other people who were arrested were injured or said they had been tackled by police.
Armstrong said he was released from jail the next day and went to a hospital, where his arm was put in a sling after X-rays determined his shoulder and back were severely bruised and strained.
Armstrong said he didn’t see anyone inside the Rainbow Lounge make lewd gestures or grab the officers.
“To me, it seemed like they were trying to make a point,” he said of the police.




Of course the bar was targeted and of course they knew it was the anniversary of Stonewall. Anyone that says differently is either in denial or a liar. I mean come on, the buckle of the bible belt is right between Dallas and Ft. Worth. Of course this was intentional. It was to teach us a lesson that they are still in control and can stomp on us any time they choose. They just “happened” to pick the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. Mistake? I’m not buying any of it.
I like most people, don’t get it. If they are raiding bars for DRUNK people, then it seems that no bar in Ft Worth would ever make it…
The people of Ft Worth should be careful to go out and enjoy life, they may be the next victims of such raids.
sad situation. They are getting scared (LGBT are getting equal rights) and when people get scared they do stupid things. We need to start being even more vigilant.
Incredible police brutality and outright lies, just as at Stonewall. Not all Texans are idiots, but these police officers are mentally ill, and they need therapy to differentiate between morality and legislation; religion and the State.
My heart goes out to Gibson and his family.
All of you could help us out here by sending a note letting them know how you feel about this.
The email for the Fort Worth Police Department is:
fwpdweb@fortworthpd.com and their internal affairs # is (817)392-4270
The Mayor’s email:
mike.moncrief@fortworthgov.org
Please post the email address on your blogs or anyplace else you can think of.
Thanks!!!
The sheriff was at a community forum tonight and said he was 90% accurate that it was TABC officers that “came into contact” with Chad. TABC has ordered an investigation.
My apologies . . . I was on the wrong site with one too many rum and cokes. such is life.
Neil
When will 9News realize than conversations change after time and, they need to put the newest comments at the top. No one wants to read from the beginning only to learn at the end that things have changed.
Neil
Most businesses any more have video cameras, both for security, and for evidence after a robbery or a customer injury. I would be interested to see the video of this raid. A smart bar owner might let the police finish talking (and putting their collective feet into their mouths), before filing the suit and showing the video. He and his patrons might just be able to retire after this.
Why would they be making the ‘liquour inspection’ on the weekend in the first place…is this how they operate in the first place or just Gay Establishments?
Because the abuse happened….its’ authorization came from the top. Go after then…the Top Brass first…the city needs to make them the example…Mayor included.
Chad Gibson (before injury)
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq7/b-0001/l_2731a5371dd2e904551a01544e1b4461.jpg
His MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/cdizzle311
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=751205236&hiq=chad%2Cgibson
Picture of Chad Gibson in hospital.
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq7/b-0001/ChadGibson.png
“Several people were arrested for public intoxication” at a bar that police entered to do a “routine alcoholic beverage code inspection”…”early Sunday morning”? Do they honestly think we’re not going to raise the BS flag on this? Seriously, how many times have you been to a new bar on a Sunday morning and found that many people as drunk as they claimed? I hope the truth is revealed soon. I also hope that when Chad recovers, he and the others involved file suits and get what they deserve for what I am pretty sure was unnecessary treatment.
I live just south of Fort Worth and know several officers in Fort Worth. They are a bunch of ignorant gay hating morons. I don’t doubt that they planned this to coincide with the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. They get to act out this way because they have the support of thier idiot Chief that tells them to harass gay people but don’t tell him beforehand so he has deniability. We in Tarrant County need the help of our community everywhere to hold a major protest in Fort Woth.
A video of the “protest.” Media coverage seems scant…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzl5ikSlH3s
Did anyone notice in the White Night video that people are wearing street clothes and are genuinely pissed off? SO why is it that in every protest I see today people are dressed in festive colors, laughing, smiling and – in some cases- singing, and yet expect to be taken seriously? A guy is in the f*cking hospital with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain from a cop doing a “liquor license check” and these people – like gay activists everywhere – are treating it as a attention-whore event and basically making a colorful, light-hearted spectacle.
If this passes for a serious effort for change in our tribe, then its makes me wonder why people should expect any more than a “pride month” and speeches from Obama.
Heres a pic of the event regarding Gibson;
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq7/b-0001/raid-on-eve-of-stonewall-001.jpg
Other links
Vigil page:
http://jaysays.com/2009/06/candle-light-vigil-to-be-held-in-honor-of-man-injured-by-police-raid/
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=109253439840&ref=mf
“Officers just don’t come in armed with zip ties and a paddy wagon for a routine check of a bar…”
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1458523.html
Names of officers involved:
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/06/fort-worth-police-identify-off.html
Eyewitness accounts, “about six police cars” and a “paddy wagon” waiting outside the bar” for the “routine liquor license check”-
http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_11500.php
Local news footage, interviews with patrons
http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-rainbow-lounge-fwpd-statement-story,0,1536646.story