Did you know that the cops in Atlanta are still raiding gay bars?

[hedgehog]

"One man said officers grabbed patrons who didn't immediately lie down by the neck and forced them to the ground. The man said he was kicked in the ribs while lying down. 'Then I heard laughing and giggling and saying this is more fun than raiding niggers with crack. They also told us to shut the fuck up unless we were spoken too .' The man said he heard one person told that if he spoke again he would be hit by a chair. He also reported that one officer 'said to everyone in general that all you all do is flash your asses and show your cocks.'"

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/09/heres-part-of-atlanta-police-chief-richard-penningtons-press-conference-on-monday-regarding-atlanta-police-officer-dani-lee.html

[DesertFlower]

1. Jesus H. Christ. nt

[hedgehog]

2. Time for some groups to move their annual conventions elsewhere.

Of course, by "some groups" I mean everybody.

[AuntPatsy]

4. Or perhaps fight to ensure this brutality is stopped or it will continue..?

[imdjh]

8. Getting the police chief fired would be a good start. nt

[imdjh]

11. Naw, time to sue the shit out of the PD and force the chief to fire the cops involved or resign.

[jonnyblitz]

3. why yes I did know that. and thanks for posting this article.

:hi:

[ZombieHorde]

5. K&R nt

[Mist]

6. I used to live in Atlanta--left in '99. The cops were getting out of control then, and it seems

they're even more so now.

[imdjh]

7. Call the mayor.

Does the Mayor’s office and Atlanta Police Department pursue anonymous tips against straight bars? That’s what Dan Savage wants to know:

I think we should find out if the mayor of Atlanta will order a police raid on any bar—gay or straight—based on a single (and apparently phony) tip about drug use. So, hey, here’s a list of bars in Atlanta and here’s the mayor’s contact info…

Mayor Shirley Franklin
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

If you know or even just suspect that drugs are being used or sold—or adult entertainment provided without a city permit—on the premises of any bar or club in Atlanta, send a tip off the mayor’s office now. If every bar in Atlanta winds up gets raided—if 10 police cars, 15 officers, and 10 undercover officers get sent to every bar in town—then we’ll know that the raid on the Atlanta Eagle wasn’t motivated by anti-gay bias. Mayor Franklin is standing by waiting for your tips!

[Taverner]

9. A quick note: ATL has the largest gay population in the US

Bigger than NYC and SF - which surprised me

On the topic - this is fucked up and if the cops can't police themselves, maybe they can all go to jail

[imdjh]

10. I don't know about that, but the Atlanta Police Dept does have a Facebook page

that everyone should visit and write something on the wall. You have to become a "fan" first.

[FreeState]

13. A quick correction: Atlanta is the 12th largest - New York is the largest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_village

Top LGBT populations in U.S. cities and states

Rank City Percentage of City Population GLB Population population
1 New York City 6% 272,493
2 Los Angeles 5.6% 154,270
3 Chicago 5.7% 114,449
4 San Francisco 15.4% 94,234
5 Phoenix 6.4% 63,222
6 Houston 4.4% 61,976
7 San Diego 6.8% 61,945
8 Dallas 7.0% 58,473
9 Seattle 12.9% 57,993
10 Boston 12.3% 50,540
11 Philadelphia 4.2% 43,320
12 Atlanta 12.8% 39,085
13 San Jose 5.8% 37,260

[femrap]

12. We are DE-volving backward

into ignorance and hatred. What a great 'culture' we have.

[AndyA]

14. I LOVED Backstreet Atlanta when I lived there.

Awesome, awesome club. I was so sorry to hear it was torn down. :(

Edit to add: This was posted on DU over the weekend, and it's disgraceful for Atlanta to continue to allow its police to harrass citizens in this manner.

[Kalyke]

15. So... wait....

If it was torn down, then these comments are old?

[FreeState]

16. No this happened at the Eagle in ATL - the poster is referring to another bar they liked n/t

[AndyA]

17. I'm sorry for the confusion, sometimes the fingers work quicker than the mind.

Backstreet Atlanta closed and was torn down years ago, I was just reliving fond memories of that club. This event happened at The Eagle, which is another club.

When I lived there, I don't ever remember the police even coming into a club! Things surely seem to have taken a huge step backward in Atlanta.

[MineralMan]

18. I was in Atlanta some years back for a Summer Comdex

convention, which happened to coincide with Freaknik that year. My wife and I went for a walk to Underground Atlanta from our hotel. A white cop told me that we should go back to my hotel, and that it wasn't safe to walk there, due to the "undesirable element." We ignored him, bought a couple of Freaknik T-shirts from a street vendor, put them on, and joined in the celebration. Oddly enough, we had no trouble at all, and had a really good time. I never did figure out what "undesirable element" he was talking about. Everyone seemed pretty friendly.

[Name removed]

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