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100 attend vigil for Gibson, according to DMN
July 2nd, 2009
About 100 people attended a vigil for Chad Gibson outside the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth last night, according to The Dallas Morning News. We couldn’t make it because we were busy holding vigil over the final pages of the print edition, but above is a photo sent to us by local activist Chastity Kirven. Read our full coverage of the Rainbow Lounge raid in this week’s Voice, which hits the streets today (Thursday, July 2) instead of Friday due to the upcoming holiday.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:38 am
I was there are there were no more than 98 people in attendance, not 100 as Wright claims. Why must John Wright LIE?! Why is he such a LIAR?! <<– (sarcasm)
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:39 am
I totally counted 97.5….that baby only counts as half.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:04 am
I was there and estimated that there were at least 200 people attending Chad Gibson’s candlelight vigil.
A news report this morning on WFAA estimated an attendance of about 250 people.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:15 am
Now John Wright agrees with the Dallas Morning News for counting crowds? Remember, they reported “about 300″ for Sunday’s march.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
[...] about 100 people attended a vigil for Chad Gibson outside the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth last night. Tags: Chad Gibson, Ft. Worth TX, Police [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Hello? Is anybody at the Voice reading these blogs? Bloggers are picking up your story and are repeating your story of only 100 people attending the vigil. Please correct your story ASAP. A picture of the full crowd while Dr. Sprinkle was addressing us will clearly show more than 100 people were there. If you will not do that, at least remove the story until you have the correct attendance estimate, so this error does not continue to spread with the Dallas Voice as their “reliable” reference.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I totally agree Cathy. I understand that no one from DV could make it to the vigil but don’t rely on DMN for accurate counts. They are notorious for low balling any rally/protest within the community.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Cathy and Tisha:
I clearly attributed this information to The DMN in the post, but failed to do so in the headline. I have now corrected the headline to reflect that this is The DMN’s estimate, not ours.
John Wright
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
GRACIAS!
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:54 pm
How about posting that the estimate of 100 is wrong?
TABC Reassigns Two Agents in Gay Bar Raid
Scott Gordon
About 250 people attended a candlelight vigil for Chad Gibson outside the Rainbow Lounge.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/TABC_Reassigns_Two_Agents_in_Gay_Bar_Raid_Dallas-Fort_Worth.html
July 5th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
TEXAS WOULD NOT DARE TO ATTACK JEWISH PATRONS IN A JEWISH LOUNGE, BUT GAYS …?
Replace the label GAY with the label JEW and the entire western world would be in an uproar. One Jewish organization after another would threaten a boycott of Dallas/Fort Worth as conference centers for professional organizations (physicians, lawyers, teachers, librarians, etc.).
And what do we get? No apology from the police chief and a lecture from the local newspaper, the fairly influential FW Star Telegram. By throwing in a few crumbs, the Public Relations Dept. knows only too well that time will probably work in their favor with gay people being grateful that a little education program may get started some time in the future, and then it’s back to a subtler form of homophobia.
The local press has much to answer for. Imagine the following editorial in the Star Telegram:
“The Police Department informed THE STAR OF DAVID Lounge management in advance that an inspection would take place the night of PASSOVER. Why didn’t the managers educate the officers about the date’s significance? That’s need-to-know information for uniformed law enforcement officers showing up at a JEWISH bar on that date.
It’s also need-to-know for any JEWISH bar patron that laying a hand on a police officer will result in a quick trip to jail.
Drinking to the point of intoxication is a crime even in a bar. Officers tasked with enforcing alcohol laws must make sure local and state statutes are observed regardless of the date on the calendar, PASSOVER OR NO PASSOVER. The residents of Fort Worth who share the streets with bar patrons throughout the city expect as much.
Law enforcement officers also must follow agency procedures to make sure inspections are conducted professionally and legally.
Why would a police supervisor, six officers and two TABC agents knowingly risk their own careers, the reputations of their departments and a public relations nightmare WITH THE JEWISH COMMUNITY by engaging in targeted or overly aggressive enforcement against a RELIGIOUS minority group? We’re not sure they would, but as we said, there are more questions than answers at this point.â€
Excuse me while I go throw up my breakfast–INDEED.
For the original editorial from the Star Ledger, identical with mine, except for the Jewish references, courtesy of Mark Reed, posted on July 3rd, 2009 at 7:27 am, click here:
http://www.dallasvoice.com/instant-tea/2009/07/03/letter-from-chief-halstead/#comment-11934
July 20th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Check out the Austin Statesman July 19th. In dept story about TABC corruption.