Mayor apologizes publicly for gay bar raid (Fort Worth)

[sonias]

Houston Chronicle 7/15/09
Mayor apologizes publicly for gay bar raid

FORT WORTH — Mayor Mike Moncrief apologized for a raid on a gay bar that sparked claims of brutality and procedure violations after several members of a gay rights group were escorted out of a City Council meeting Tuesday.

About 250 people packed council chambers and another 150 watched on televisions in the hallway or overflow rooms as officials briefly discussed the June 28 joint raid by the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission and the Fort Worth Police Department at the Rainbow Lounge, which left one man hospitalized with a serious head injury.

Moncrief told the meeting neither the TABC nor police had finished investigations into the raid, which initially had been called a routine license inspection. But the mayor said he has asked the U.S. Attorney's Office to review the department's findings.

Someone in the audience then called out for an apology.

"If you want an apology from the mayor of Fort Worth: I am sorry about what happened in Fort Worth," Moncrief said, as the crowd erupted in applause and stood.

Sonia

[sonias]

1. Background story

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 6/30/09
TABC to investigate injury of man in agent's custody at gay bar

FORT WORTH -- Officials for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission have acknowledged that a man was severely injured Sunday while in the custody of a TABC agent who was joining in an inspection of a new gay bar.

The agency is conducting an internal investigation of the incident at the Rainbow Lounge on Jennings Street, according to a news release issued Wednesday afternoon. The TABC also conducted inspections at two bars on Rosedale Street.

Meanwhile, the man who was hurt in the raid on the Rainbow Lounge, 26-year-old Chad Gibson, was listed in fair condition at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He had earlier been listed in serious condition.

"We are saddened that this incident occurred and extend our sincere hope that Mr. Gibson recovers quickly," said TABC Administrator Alan Steen. "I have initiated an internal affairs investigation to answer questions about how these locations were chosen, to review the agents' actions, and specifically to establish the facts surrounding Mr. Gibson's injury."

Sonia

[Aragorn]

2. Moncrief is a good guy

but it still seems surprising that he got elected in Texas. Fort Worth is OK!

[yellowdogintexas]

3. He was our State Senator for Life...until his district got redrawn and

put him in a position to not be re elected. So he retired and ran for mayor. He is well respected and liked in this community..

and even though mayoral candidates do not declare party affiliations, he was our Democratic State Senator for many many years.

Oh and after 2 terms of a Repub, we elected a Democratic Woman this cycle and the Legislature voted her 'Best Rookie Legislator' of this year.

[tammywammy]

4. Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard a bad word about him

I was surprised that this raid happened in Ft Worth, just that you never really hear anything bad from there.

[sonias]

5. Recent Fort Worth bar incident bears similarities to one in Austin

AAS 7/19/09
Recent Fort Worth bar incident bears similarities to one in

An undercover operation by Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents and Austin police three years ago bears similarities to last month's headline-making incident at a gay bar in Fort Worth.

In both cases, officers said they made arrests for public intoxication after seeing patrons act in a sexually suggestive manner. And in both cases, there was disagreement about what really happened.

In February 2006, state and local officers entered the Coyote Ugly Saloon on Sixth Street as part of a Stop Sales to Intoxicated Persons operation, designed to catch bars selling alcohol to drunken patrons. They observed two women kissing and fondling each other in a "prolonged" embrace, according to documents in a State Office of Administrative Hearings case over the bar's license.

The agents soon arrested one of the women, Jada Potter, for public intoxication. The bartender who served her was charged with selling alcohol to an intoxicated person. The agents said they saw Potter fall down, apparently drunk.

But it was the sight of two women kissing that precipitated the arrest.

TABC is apparently staffed with a bunch of homophobic agents. Another related story:

AAS 7/19/09
TABC accused of excessive force before raid on gay club

The Cowboy Cantina in East Texas had been open for business less than six months when, on New Year's Eve 2005, local sheriff's deputies and undercover agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission staked out the bar. The owner, Oscar Jimenez, ended up with cracked ribs after one of the agents kicked him while he lay on the ground, he said.

In Midland, David Baesa complained that TABC officers hit and kicked him during his arrest for public intoxication. The agency's review of the July 2003 incident concluded that the officers did nothing wrong — although the internal affairs investigator conceded not everyone might see it that way: "This utilization of the (agent's) foot and hands to average citizen might appear in a different light."
(snip)

The Jimenez lawsuit was settled in December when the TABC paid the bar owner and his lawyers $135,000. In a related case, a federal jury awarded his wife $35,000 in February after finding that Wood County Sheriff Dwayne Daugherty violated her rights by strip-searching her after the raid.

Sonia