Last night around 1 a.m., on the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the Fort Worth Police Department raided the Rainbow Lounge and began randomly handcuffing and arresting patrons and shoving anyone who dared to ask why. It was a sobering reminder that on this pinnacle date in the history of gay rights, we still have a very long way to go. I created this group to give folks a chance to discuss it, share stories, pictures, etc.

Found this:
Police Raid

This is chilling, HornFan!! The link does say that the bar was recently opened, so the police may have been responding to complaints about noise in the neighborhood and not just because it was a gay bar.

Christopher Kelly, a blogger at DFW.com, describes it as a large dance bar and lounge that occupies a remodeled space that once housed one of Fort Worth’s most venerable dance clubs.

There is a new comment on the post "Update: Rainbow Lounge".

http://www.dallasvoice.com/instant-tea/200...inbow-lounge-2/

Author: Shane
Comment:
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.

I hope the bar had it's paperwork in order...

Rainbow Lounge Staff Says:

June 28th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
hey guys we are employees of the rainbow lounge. the police where there last night and came into speak with us after closing . We were told that we were the third they had been in last night, one being a mixed club and the other a latino club. The officer took the time to thank us for doing such a wonderful job and told us that we had a “fun” club. He made it clear that it had nothing to do with us being an alternative club and almost everyone that was detained was let go except for two.

We were told that we were the third they had been in last night, one being a mixed club and the other a latino club.

The police are calling this a "typical inspection"...

Confirming reports are out that a patron slammed to the floor during last night's "inspection" is in ICU at Fort Worth's John Peter Smith hospital with a head injury.

After more than a generation of progress, this action shows that there is still much work to be done to ensure that all Americans enjoy 'equal protection under the law.' It is tragic that lesbian and gay taxpayers are still abused by the very people who are paid by our taxes.

They said one of those arrested fractured his skull during the takedown and is at a Fort Worth hospital

Update Rainbow Lounge
June 28th, 2009
Just talked to a girl named Alison. When it first started she went up to a cop and said thank you for coming out to keep us safe. This is a rough neighborhood. He said that’s not why we are here. She asked why they were there and he said a disgruntled employee had said that the bar was overserving people. She told him she had been drinking but that she had a designated driver. He told her that she was fine. She said they only arrested men and seemed to be targeting effeminate men.

She asked why they were there and he said a disgruntled employee had said that the bar was overserving people.

Update on Chad Gibson, injured in Rainbow Lounge raid
June 28th, 2009
Kristy Morgan, sister of Chad Gibson, just called me to give an update on her brother. Chad is the man who was hospitalized after being thrown to the floor by police during a raid last night on the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth.

Kristy said the initial CAT scan performed earlier today showed little or no damage. However, a second CAT scan performed this afternoon showed that the bleeding in his brain had increased.

“We won’t know anything more until tomorrow when they do more tests,” she said.

Kristy said Chad has awake today, but that he has no memory of the incident in the bar and that his memor of events today have been spotty. She said he remembers her being there, but that he doesn’t remember talking to the doctor this morning, and he doesn’t remember visits by some of his friends during the day.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or what kind of bar you are in,” Kristy said, “none of this should have happened, to anybody. It’s excessive force, and it shouldn’t have happened.”

— Tammye Nash

Raymond Gill was at the bar early Sunday morning. He says one of the TABC officers targeted him. "I asked him why I was pulled outside. He stated it was because the way I was walking. He said I looked like I was drunk. But as I stated, I got to the bar 30 minutes before they got there. I sat down had not got up before police got there. No one saw me walk."

Councilman Joel Burns Statement Concerning "Rainbow Lounge" Raid
Staff reporter

June 28, 2009

Fort Worth

Statement June/28/2009

Contact: Councilman Joel Burns 817-881-1887 Fort Worth City Council, Dist. 9

Statement from Councilmember Joel Burns Regarding Police Action at the Rainbow Lounge on 6/28/2009 FORT WORTH, TEXAS-6/28/2009 . I want all citizens of Texas and Fort Worth to know and be assured that the laws and ordinances of our great State and City will be applied fairly, equally and without malice or selective enforcement. I consider this to be part of "The Fort Worth Way" here. As an elected representative of the city of Fort Worth, I am calling for an immediate and thorough investigation of the actions of the City of Fort Worth Police and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in relation to the incident at the Rainbow Lounge earlier this morning, June 28, 2009.

It is unfortunate that this incident occurred in Fort Worth and even more so to have occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall protests. Unlike 40 years ago, though, the people of this community have elective representation that will make sure our government is accountable and that the rights of all of its citizens are protected. I are working together with our Mayor, Police Chief, the City of Fort Worth Human Relations Commission, and our State Legislative colleagues to get a complete and accurate accounting of what occurred.

Rest assured that neither the people of Fort Worth, nor the city government of Fort Worth, will tolerate discrimination against any of its citizens. And know that the GLBT Community is an integral part of the economic and cultural life of Fort Worth.

Every Fort Worth citizen deserves to have questions around this incident answered and I am working aggressively toward that end.

Gays, lesbians rally in Fort Worth over bar raid


By Tammye Nash Senior Editor
Jun 28, 2009 - 10:11:37 PM Email this article
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Police say 7 arrested for public intoxication; one man remains hospitalized with brain injury incurred during incident

FORT WORTH — About 18 hours after officers with the Fort Worth Police Department and agents with the Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission raided a Fort Worth gay bar, about 150 to 200 people gathered on the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse in downtown Fort Worth Sunday night, June 28, to protest the raid.

Sources have said that seven people were arrested in the raid although witnesses at the scene said many more people were handcuffed with zip ties and taken out of the bar.
One man, identified by his sister as Chad Gibson, was in the intensive care unit at Fort Worth’s JPS Hospital with bleeding in his brain after officers threw him to the ground and used zip-ties to handcuff him.

The raid happened on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion.

Joel Burns, Fort Worth’s first and only openly gay City Council member, was in Houston for the weekend, but came back to Fort Worth in time for the rally at the courthouse.

“We want all citizens of Texas and Fort Worth to know and be assured that the laws of ordinances of our great state and city will be applied fairly, equally and without malice or selective enforcement,” Burns said at the rally, reading from a prepared statement.

“We consider this to be part of ‘The Fort Worth Way’ here. As elected representatives of the city of Fort Worth, we are calling for an immediate and thorough investigation of the actions of the city of Fort Worth police and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in relation to the incident at the Rainbow Lounge earlier this morning,” Burns said.

In an e-mail communication before noon on Sunday, Burns said he had already talked with Fort Worth Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead who had promised an investigation into the matter. Burns also said at that time that Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks, who represents the district where the Rainbow Lounge is located, and City Manager Dale A. Fisseler were also already aware of the situation.

Noting that the rainbow Lounge raid came on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, Burns said at the rally, “Unlike 40 years ago, though, the people of this community have elective representation that will make sure our government is accountable and that the rights of all its citizens are protected.”

Burns said he is working with Mayor Mike Moncrief, Halstead, the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission and “our state legislative colleagues” to get “a complete and accurate accounting of what occurred.”

Burns added, “Rest assured that neither the people of Fort Worth, nor the city government of Fort Worth, will tolerate discrimination against any of its citizens. And known that the GLBT community is an integral part of the economic and cultural life of Fort Worth.

“Every Fort Worth citizen deserves to have questions around this incident answered and we are all working aggressively toward that end,” Burns said.

Lisa Thomas, Burns’ appointee to the city’s Human Relations Commission, also spoke at the rally, as did Todd Camp and Chuck Potter, two men who were at the bar when the raid happened and who were the primary organizers of Sunday’s two rallies.

Camp, referring to eyewitness accounts of the raid and to photographs that Potter took as the raid was occurring, said at the rally that “evidence demonstrates that the Fort Worth Police Department and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commissioner over-reacted and used excessive, perhaps brutal force … .”

“The circumstances of the police action strongly suggest that elements of the law enforcement community selectively targeted a recently opened gay and lesbian establishment for selective enforcement and harassment.”

Fort Worth police have not returned calls seeking comment placed by Dallas Voice beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday morning. However, Fort Worth police released a statement to several mainstream media outlets saying that Rainbow Lounge was one of three bars targted by six Fort Worth police officers and two TABC agents and a supervisor.

The statement said that nine people were arrested at the first two bars — the Rosedale Saloon and Cowboy Palace, both on Rosedale Avenue — and that another seven people were arrested at Rainbow Lounge.

The statement also said that “an extremely intoxicated patron made sexually explicit movements toward the police supervisor” and that person was arrested for public intoxication.

A second “intoxicated individual” was arrested for public intoxication after making “sexually explicit movements towards another officer,” and a third person assaulted a TABC agent by grabbing his groin. That man was escorted outside and arrested for public intoxication, but was released to paramedics because of his “extreme intoxication” and the fact that he was vomiting repeatedly.

The statement said that while some officers were outside dealing with the vomiting suspect, another officer inside requested assistance in handling an intoxicated patron who was resisting arrest, and that this person was “placed on the ground to control and apprehend him.”

This person was apparently Chad Gibson, who was knocked unconscious and is now hospitalized with a brain injury.

Eyewitnesses to that incident said Gibson, who is “maybe 160 pounds soaking wet,” did not resist arrest but that he did stumble after the first officer grabbed his arm.

Rainbow Lounge owner J.R. Schrock said claims that patrons made sexual advances to the officers and that one patron groped an officer were lies.

“The groping of the police officer — really? We’re gay, but we’re not dumb,” Schrock said to the crowd that gathered at the bar Sunday afternoon. “That is a lie, and I am appalled by it.

“They treat us like outcasts. But even outcasts have a time to shine, and this is it,” Schrock said, pledging that he would not be “scared away” or intimidated into closing his bar.

“The circumstances of the police action strongly suggest that elements of the law enforcement community selectively targeted a recently opened gay and lesbian establishment for selective enforcement and harassment.”

This person was apparently Chad Gibson, who was knocked unconscious and is now hospitalized with a brain injury.

Eyewitnesses to that incident said Gibson, who is “maybe 160 pounds soaking wet,” did not resist arrest but that he did stumble after the first officer grabbed his arm.

Rainbow Lounge owner J.R. Schrock said claims that patrons made sexual advances to the officers and that one patron groped an officer were lies.

“The groping of the police officer — really? We’re gay, but we’re not dumb,” Schrock said to the crowd that gathered at the bar Sunday afternoon. “That is a lie, and I am appalled by it.

In an e-mail communication before noon on Sunday, Burns said he had already talked with Fort Worth Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead who had promised an investigation into the matter. Burns also said at that time that Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks, who represents the district where the Rainbow Lounge is located, and City Manager Dale A. Fisseler were also already aware of the situation.

Burns said he is working with Mayor Mike Moncrief, Halstead, the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission and “our state legislative colleagues” to get “a complete and accurate accounting of what occurred.”

Fort Worth police have not returned calls seeking comment placed by Dallas Voice beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday morning. However, Fort Worth police released a statement to several mainstream media outlets saying that Rainbow Lounge was one of three bars targted by six Fort Worth police officers and two TABC agents and a supervisor.

“They treat us like outcasts. But even outcasts have a time to shine, and this is it,” Schrock said, pledging that he would not be “scared away” or intimidated into closing his bar.

Apparently, it is now legal in Texas to arrest people for public intoxication even in bars and restaurants (a MADD initiative). A law coming your way soon if MADD has their way. This may have been bad timing (at it's worst), but the treatment by the police/authorities of the patrons still seems suspect.

Here's a post in the comments from the newspaper blog (don't know if it's real or not):
I know there are reporters working on this, so hopefully they'll get to the bottom of the story.

I hope this initiative will now be challenged by someone in light of the incident.

To everyone reading out there ... in the last few hours this story has been heard on every major news outlet in the Metroplex, CNN, The Rachel Maddow Show, The Michaelangelo Signorile Show, The Daily KOSS, The Huffington Post, Perez Hilton.com and, from what I've heard, the ear of the president himself. You made this happen. Thank you so much.

The Fort Worth police department said today it has suspended all operations with the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission until more information about a beverage code inspection at the Rainbow Lounge is obtained.

Todd Camp, founder of Fort Worth’s LGBT film festival Q Cinema, had gone to Rainbow Lounge Saturday night with friends to celebrate his birthday. He said he was standing in line at the bar when “seven or eight cops,” some wearing Fort Worth Police uniforms, others wearing clothing identifying them as “state police.”

Camp said an officer “shoved me out of the way to grab the guy in front of me” in line at the bar. The officer “told the man, ‘You’re drunk,’” and took him out of the bar, Camp said.

He said there were “about six police cars” and a “paddy wagon” waiting outside the bar, and that officers had several people in zip-tie handcuffs lined up on the sidewalk.
* * *

Justin McCarty said he was working security for the Rainbow Lounge at the time of the raid early Sunday morning. He said an officer approached him and asked how much he had had to drink.

“I told him I was working and hadn’t had anything to drink, and that’s when he told me, ‘Then you need to make yourself scarce.’ So I did. I went to the back out of the way. I took that as a threat that if I didn’t, I would be arrested, too,” McCarty said.

McCarty said that he saw officers throw Chad Gibson to the floor, adding that, “There were people standing there watching it happen and crying. They were scared. It was just brutal.”
* * *

Randy Norman is general manager for the Rainbow Lounge. He said he saw a man on the dance floor, dancing, who was approached by police officers.

“They threw him down, put the zip ties on him and took him out,” Norman said. “He told them he was not drunk, and asked that they do breathalyzer on him. But they refused.”

“No one I saw appeared to be highly intoxicated, and the way they were choosing people just appeared to be random harassment,” Camp said. “They were pretty violent in grabbing people, and one guy was shoved to the ground and handcuffed.

“I was absolutely stunned. They are saying this was a routine check by TABC. I have been in plenty of bars before when TABC checks happened, and this was not like anything I have ever seen before,” Camp added. “People were just grabbed randomly, told they were drunk, spun around, put in handcuffs and taken out.”

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief called on federal prosecutors Friday to look into last week’s bar raid that resulted in a serious head injury to one patron.

Parallel investigations — one by Fort Worth police and another within the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission — are already under way into what happened Sunday at the Rainbow Lounge.

And, police chief Jeff Halstead has announced the indefinite suspension of bar checks conducted jointly by his department and TABC.

Moncrief encouraged anyone who witnessed the events to tell police what they saw, and he said he has asked U.S. Attorney James Jacks to independently review the police investigation afterward “to ensure the department has thoroughly and impartially carried out its obligation to all the citizens of Fort Worth. I encourage the TABC to follow the same course.”

Moncrief also wished a speedy recovery for Chad Gibson, 26, who was among six people arrested in the early-morning raid. Gibson suffered a serious head injury and was recovering at John Peter Smith Hospital.

The Rainbow Lounge raid has sparked national outrage over police treatment of gays and lesbians. It occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, regarded as the birth of the modern gay-rights movement, when several spontaneous protests erupted after patrons at a New York gay bar fought back against a police raid.

In a news release Thursday announcing the suspension of all joint operations with the TABC, Halstead said that he wants to know more about the historical relationship between the TABC and Fort Worth police.

The chief also announced that he would make sure that all police officers receive multicultural training, with particular emphasis on dealing with the gay and lesbian community.

In a statement of their own, officials with the TABC said they backed the chief’s efforts.

TABC spokeswoman Carolyn Beck said the agency is conducting its own investigation and has placed the agents involved in the raid on the day shift, “which means desk duty.”

Letter from Chief Halstead
July 3rd, 2009
I was out of commission Thursday afternoon, recovering from a migraine, so I am late in posting this. But I wanted people to read what Fort Worth Police Chief had to say yesterday in this letter I got in my e-mail:

In appreciation for the time you spent talking with me Tuesday night, I wanted you to see a letter that is being posted on our City’s website.

Also, I am sending out a press release today that basically says the FWPD is NOT going to assist the TABC with “bar inspections” until a few things are accomplished:

1-I want to meet in person with the TABC director to discuss our roles in these efforts…I want to make them more ’service’ based instead of enforcement.

2-a number of witnesses have come forward and that is a good thing. I want a complete internal investigation completed and discuss the findings with the community and evaluate what changes can take place…

3-I am working closely with our own HR department to assess the availability of multi-culturalism training. I don’t have the funds but will find them ASAP if a good program can assist our department.

4-Since I am new to this region (6 months), I want to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs and ensure they are the right thing for our community. They are very effective if done right…time will assist me with making that decision.

Thanks again to both of you. I hold true to my promise to meet with a group of leaders to discuss how we can work together to make positive changes.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

Jeff

(Jeffrey W. Halstead, Fort Worth police chief).

The grand opening sign still hangs above the door of the Rainbow Lounge, but the recently opened dance club has already become a rallying point for gay men and lesbians here, after a raid by law enforcement last week left one man hospitalized with a head injury and prompted complaints of brutality.
* * *
Tom Anable, a 55-year-old accountant who said he was in the bar during the raid, said that for more than a half-hour the officers entered the bar repeatedly in groups of three and escorted people out. Then around 1:40 a.m., he said, the officers started to get rougher, throwing one young man down hard on a pool table.

Minutes later, one of the state agents approached Mr. Gibson, who was standing on steps to a lounge at the back of the bar with a bottle of water in his hands, and tapped him on the shoulder, Mr. Anable said. Mr. Gibson turned and said, “Why?”

Then the officer, who has not been identified, twisted Mr. Gibson’s right arm behind his back, grabbed his neck, swung him off the steps and slammed his head into the wall of a hallway leading to the restrooms, Mr. Anable said. The agent then forced Mr. Gibson to the floor, Mr. Anable said.

“Gibson didn’t touch the officer,” Mr. Anable said. “He didn’t grope him.”

Two police officers and a second state agent arrived and helped subdue Mr. Gibson, kneeling on his back. A lounge employee, Lindsey Thompson, 23, said she saw an officer slam Mr. Gibson’s head into the floor while he was prone with his hands cuffed behind him.

The firings come three weeks after Texas ABC released an internal affairs report which found that Aller and Chapman have violated a number of policies.

The violations included taking part in an operation without approval, failing to report use of force against patrons, failure to report that a patron was injured and disrupting business, among others.