I have contacted Fort Worth Councilmember Joel Burns through e-mail. The bar is not in his district, however, he has spoken this morning with Chief Halstead and expects a “full report” soon.
I have also spoken with DGLA President Patti Fink, who has been involved with the organizing for today’s Million Gay March in Dallas. She said DGLA is formulating a response, and there has been some talk about ending the march with a call for people to come to Fort Worth for a rally today.
More as I hear it.
That is excellent! Just created a Facebook page to discuss the incident. Please let me know details if there is Fort Worth protest. There’s a lot of folks over here ready to do something.
What’s the URL for the Facebook page?
I found the Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=109253439840&ref=mf
Let all your friends know because it’s not in the mainstream press (that I can find so far).
I DON’T HAVE A FACEBOOK, JUST OLD FASHIONED AND CALL THE pOLICE DEPT AND WANTED TO SHARE
I’d like to claim my personal (hetro) solidarity with everyone in the LGBT community in the light of this outrage. You are not alone!
Tammye, I’m sure attempts are being made, but comments from the owners/management of the bar should be insightful.
I was one of the dance entertainers last night at Rainbow Lounge. I was dancing on a box in the VIP lounge and was looking right at the first guy that was arrested. The male patron was standing at the bar doing nothing but having a having a drink and a fun time (like people do in bars) when an officer entered that section of the club and made a beeline straight towards him. The officer forcefully spun the man around, shoved him against the bar and placed plastic restraints on his wrists. The officer then marched the man out the club. The guy was stunned and obviously really scared.
I then noticed another officer in the VIP section and several other officers filtering into the club. I made the decision at that point to go ahead and get dressed in case they were going to start arresting everyone in the entire place.
When I got inside the dressing room there were other dancers already in there getting dressed. They were panicing and saying that this is not something they have ever had to deal dancing in Dallas.
I got dressed and walked out the door and saw that several more officers had made their way into the club. I went into sort of a surreal haze at that moment. I was so disturbed and saddened because it occured to me in that moment that being after midnight, it was actually the exact same day as the Stonewall Riots. I just couldn’t believe what was happening.
I was still standing near the entrance to the VIP lounge with a friend when an officer approached a man standing there. The man had water in his hand. The officer asked him how much he had had to drink and the man said that he didn’t have to answer that. The officer then said that he was going to arrest him for public intoxication. The man said,”You can’t do that I am just standing here right now drinking water.” At the time the officer shoved the man over towards the wall near the dressing room and then back to the rear wall near the men’s restroom, then down onto the floor. Several other officers, made their way back there to hold that ONE MAN down on the ground as they placed restraints on him. At the time I noticed that all of them did not have FWPD uniforms on. Some of them were actually State Police.
I came out of my horrified daze at that moment and told my friend that we needed to get out of there quickly. I just felt like everything was about to go crazy. Outside the bar, there were officers standing all over the place. I did a quick scan and counted seven squad cars. I heard one officer telling a young woman who was complaining to him about being harrassed by them that they were only there to protect the citizens of Fort Worth and to keep drunk people from being on the roads.
This morning when I woke up, in the moments before I became lucid, I questioned whether or not I had simply had a strange and awful nightmare. I had no alcohol last night, only water. So it wasn’t some drunken nightmare. It really happened. I then actually got emotional and cried, which is rare for me. It still hurts a little knowing that there are lots of people out there who hate me just for being gay.
It’s 2009. The world is a rough place. Many of us are struggling to remain financiially afloat now. Going out to a bar and having fun with friends is one way to take our minds off of reality for a little while. Fort Worth is large, modern city. This should not happen period but certainly not somewhere like this. Rainbow Lounge was clearly targeted because it is a new gay bar. There are drunk people in bars all over the place. The officers didn’t know if the people they arrrested were driving their own cars, riding with sober friends, or calling cabs. Wasn’t there something more important they could have been doing last night? It’s just really sad.
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News)
I don’t live in Texas, but there are some STUPID (if not liable) leaders in law enforcement. Look for the architect of this “plan†and no doubt you will find yet another hateful Christian Extremist. This was clearly designed to intimidate the gays.
Oh — sure, other bars were targeted, nice cover story to CYA. The fact that this occurred on the anniversary of the Stonewall riots CLEARLY demonstrates the intent.
There is a lot of non-professional language in the police report. Waiting for a supervisor “to make the scene”? What the hell? Makes the FWPD look unprofessional at best.
Good luck trying to get any accountability out of the cops though. A sad story.
To donate to a fund for Chad Gibson, walk into any Frost Bank location in Texas and ask to make a donation to Q Cinema for the benefit of Chad Gibson (the donation is through Q Cinema in order to be tax deductible). The account number is 608439230. Ability to make online donations coming soon.
The Office of Professional Responsibility (Internal Affairs)
* will be a central reporting point for all personnel complaints and investigations
* reports directly to the agency administrator and commissioners
* operates as an independent fact-finding entity to protect the public, employees and agency through a consistently thorough and objective investigative process
* reviews complaints whether written, oral, signed or unsigned, from the public, TABC employees or at the direction of the administrator
* will notify the complainant in writing, whenever possible, once the complaint is received and again when the investigation has been completed
If you have a question at any time during the process, contact the Office of Professional Responsibility:
E-mail: opr@tabc.state.tx.us
Lieutenant Andy Pena
Acting Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission
P.O. Box 13127
Austin, TX 78711
512-206-3405
512-206-3207 (FAX)
Shane,
After reading your statement i certainly hope you have provided this to the Fort Worth Police department or TABC… if you have not there is a free, anonymous forum being held tomorrow wednesday, July 8 at celebration church in Fort Worth… attorneys will be present to assist you in giving your statement but your statement is CRITICAL to all 3 investigations that are currently going on.
Please go to http://www.rainbowloungeraid.com for more information about the investigation and the opportunities for you to give your statement in a safe place.