Stonewall--Texas Style
By now, most of you have heard about the raid on a gay club here in Fort Worth over the weekend. No, I wasn't there, nor do I know anyone who was, but I've been following this story very closely since I first heard about it Sunday night.
First, a bit of background. The authorities doing the raid were Fort Worth PD and officers with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. TABC officers are police officers, who have the authority to charge anyone for public intoxication at any time--and they do. Public intoxication in Texas is a Class C Misdemeanor, which means those charged just receive a fine and a trip to the drunk tank. I don't think the charge even goes onto a criminal record. That's how the TABC has been able to work under the radar for years, since TABC officers can issue citations without even doing any tests to make sure the person they're citing is even drunk.
Occasionally, the activities of the TABC are so outrageous that they make the media. That happened about three years ago, when the TABC started posting undercover officers in bars--including hotel lounges, where the patrons had very little chance of driving. When that caught the attention of the media, there was enough public outrage that the TABC was forced to drop the sting idea--but they still routinely arrest people at bars statewide.
So, what happened Sunday night? According to FWPD (the TABC has yet to release a statement), the raid on the Rainbow Lounge was part of a routine raid, the third and final check of the evening (the first two places were straight bars). The FWPD says that no less than three patrons came up to the cops and made sexually suggestive movements, including one who actually grabbed the crotch of an officer.
If that story was true, I could understand the harshness of the raid. No one should be sexually assaulted. Except I don't believe it for a minute, since each and every patron who has come forward swears that no one did anything of the sort to the officers. Instead, the officers just randomly started grabbing people in the bar and handcuffing them--whether they were showing any signs of being drunk or not.
Plus, there's the slight matter of the guy in the hospital. One bar patron managed to receive such a serious head injury that he is in the ICU and may have to have surgery. The official report is that he was over-intoxicated and then fell forward face first--after being handcuffed. This is in the official report, so at the very least, they are admitting that their officers were negligent. I'm sorry, but once you handcuff someone, then they are your responsibility. I would think that cops doing alcohol checks would be trained to ensure that the drunk people in handcuffs don't fall over and injure their heads. So yeah, it sounds like that I, as a Fort Worth and Texas taxpayer, will get to pay the guy and his family after they win their inevitable lawsuit against FWPD and TABC.
I'm glad the story has managed to get national attention, because it needs it. The FWPD and the TABC need the harsh glare of the national spotlight on them as they attempt to explain what happened and why their story is so much different than the patrons, who, it should be pointed out, have no reason to lie. For the first time in a long time, I'm ashamed of my state, and for the first time since moving here over two years ago, I'm ashamed of my city. I hope the truth does come out, and that, if my suspicions are true, heads will role.
First, a bit of background. The authorities doing the raid were Fort Worth PD and officers with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. TABC officers are police officers, who have the authority to charge anyone for public intoxication at any time--and they do. Public intoxication in Texas is a Class C Misdemeanor, which means those charged just receive a fine and a trip to the drunk tank. I don't think the charge even goes onto a criminal record. That's how the TABC has been able to work under the radar for years, since TABC officers can issue citations without even doing any tests to make sure the person they're citing is even drunk.
Occasionally, the activities of the TABC are so outrageous that they make the media. That happened about three years ago, when the TABC started posting undercover officers in bars--including hotel lounges, where the patrons had very little chance of driving. When that caught the attention of the media, there was enough public outrage that the TABC was forced to drop the sting idea--but they still routinely arrest people at bars statewide.
So, what happened Sunday night? According to FWPD (the TABC has yet to release a statement), the raid on the Rainbow Lounge was part of a routine raid, the third and final check of the evening (the first two places were straight bars). The FWPD says that no less than three patrons came up to the cops and made sexually suggestive movements, including one who actually grabbed the crotch of an officer.
If that story was true, I could understand the harshness of the raid. No one should be sexually assaulted. Except I don't believe it for a minute, since each and every patron who has come forward swears that no one did anything of the sort to the officers. Instead, the officers just randomly started grabbing people in the bar and handcuffing them--whether they were showing any signs of being drunk or not.
Plus, there's the slight matter of the guy in the hospital. One bar patron managed to receive such a serious head injury that he is in the ICU and may have to have surgery. The official report is that he was over-intoxicated and then fell forward face first--after being handcuffed. This is in the official report, so at the very least, they are admitting that their officers were negligent. I'm sorry, but once you handcuff someone, then they are your responsibility. I would think that cops doing alcohol checks would be trained to ensure that the drunk people in handcuffs don't fall over and injure their heads. So yeah, it sounds like that I, as a Fort Worth and Texas taxpayer, will get to pay the guy and his family after they win their inevitable lawsuit against FWPD and TABC.
I'm glad the story has managed to get national attention, because it needs it. The FWPD and the TABC need the harsh glare of the national spotlight on them as they attempt to explain what happened and why their story is so much different than the patrons, who, it should be pointed out, have no reason to lie. For the first time in a long time, I'm ashamed of my state, and for the first time since moving here over two years ago, I'm ashamed of my city. I hope the truth does come out, and that, if my suspicions are true, heads will role.