Comments on: Did mayor apologize for Rainbow Lounge or ‘that anyone is ever hurt in any incident’?

By: Jeremy Lytle

Jeremy Lytle — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:49:30 +0000

Interesting how this police chief accepts the blatant lies of his men, even in the face of photographic evidence. Chief Halstead announced that his men were not even there, when photos and witness accounts plainly show that they were. And the reports note that the raid was violent from the outset–the claims of “provokation” are clearly lies, as witness accounts attest.

A “gay panic” defense is a license to murder. If these clowns are so sheltered that any encounter of gays make them panic, they are sorely in need of another line of work.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:45:24 +0000

Thank you for posting the link Rich McPhee. Everyone should watch it. I am confused about one part of it though. At the end of the reports Chad Gibson is shown out side the bar, his face with some blood and he is SMILING. What exactly does this mean? Drunk? The report said he was also covered in vomit.

No, I am not trying to stir up the Rainbow Lounge pot again, but this image is very odd. Also, has anyone heard of the official medical report for his injuries?

I believe the next day he said he had “no memory” of what happened. Surely, the blood test for his alcohol blood level will be released soon.

Of course, even someone drunk shouldn’t be “roughed up,” if that’s what happened, but if he was very drunk it does cast a different light on his story. Well, the story he can’t remember.

By: Clancy

Clancy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:45:18 +0000

If anyone remembers, a TABC officer sexually assaulted an underage girl (a sting participant) after a sting operation a couple of months ago. We are dealing with a rogue agency here. Also, isn’t there some correlation between the Obama approved DOJ brief comparing our community with pedofiles and incest with how the mayor, the FW police department, TABC and the straights have since treated us? I truly believe there is a trickle down effect when our ‘progressive’ administration sends such hideous signals.

By: Rich McPhee

Rich McPhee — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:46:18 +0000

Apparently someone blew a kiss to office which started the violence at the Rainbow Lounge. Sounds like a good reason to me!!!! check out this video WFAA

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090715_mo_policeevidence.44e0909b.html

By: HBG

HBG — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:52:29 +0000

I read Reza’s piece on the dallasblog site and commented back to him. It seems to me that the definition of prejudice is taking one incident (in his case, from 30 years ago) and extrapolating it to cover everyone. The fact that he brought up rapists and child molesters in the same breath is a nice touch, too.

It’s like this: People like that say they’re live and let live, but in my heart, they believe we’re all sickos and perverts. Well hallelujah Jimbo, it’s a good thing Jesus didn’t feel that way when he took Mary Magdalene under his wing.

Apparently Reza has never been in a straight bar for wet t-shirts, mud wrestling, jello wrestling, “girls gone wild”, or any number of disgusting things that happen on a routine basis, with apparent impunity from police and TABC authorities. It sounds to me like he was hanging out in a sex club 30 years ago, not a regular bar, and things got a little out of hand.

By: MarkD

MarkD — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:34:24 +0000

What did you expect? You’re in Texas. HELLOOOOOOOOOO?

By: Jon Garinn

Jon Garinn — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:57:13 +0000

You’re right about that, PB. It IS stunning. Check it out, people. This is what we’re dealing with.

By: Fred

Fred — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:53:59 +0000

The restraint used? The restraint the Fort Worth PD, put a man in the intensive care unit of the hospital for over a week. The kind of action an individual took whether he was a part of the FWPD or the TABC was inappropriate use of force at best, and at worst one of the sparks that caused the original 1969 StoneWall Riots in NY, only to have happen 40 years later in Texas. I am horrified and saddened by the mistakes, not only by the Police Department but the insensitivity of the City Council and Mayor of Fort Worth. You couldn’t even apologize to an individual much less to a community grieving that has for all practical purposes had no civil rights. Has had no help in the movement anywhere for equality in the last 40 years. Its obvious from the actions of a few that we still have to be fearful of being persecuted and abused, mistreated and manhandled for who we are in our sexual orientation. If anything I’m appauled that the Mayor has decided to release a second statement like this just to appease his right wing conservatives in denying any hope of closure. I hope the national media continues to grill the City of Fort Worth and the City Council for its lack of professionalism and the US District Attorney’s Office gets involved in prosecuting not only the officers involved for the blatant cover up of another officers abusive tactics but also that the TABC is put under the same scrutiny as I’m sure it wasn’t just the FWPD that decided to rough up a patron.

By: PB

PB — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:31:07 +0000

Have you read James Reza’s musings on the Fort Worth incident on Dallasblog? It is a stunning piece:

http://www.dallasblog.com/200907141005031/james-reza/riding-shotgun.html

By: Jon Garinn

Jon Garinn — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:15:02 +0000

As an advertising/marketing professional, I concur with Rafael that the city of Fort Worth needs consistent messaging. Everyone at every level should have talking points and be instructed to not stray from them. There’s entirely too much grandstanding going on by city leaders, law enforcement officials, Rainbow Lounge patrons, QLers and others. I’ve said this on other blogs and I’ll repeat it here: this isn’t about discrimination against gay people. It’s about a state agency that’s drunk with power. Why isn’t someone investigating TABC and reporting on the many other instances of raids gone awry?