Local News
Fort Worth mayor wants federal review in gay bar raid
02:01 PM CDT on Friday, July 3, 2009
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief called on federal prosecutors Friday to look into last week's bar raid that resulted in a serious head injury to one patron.
Parallel investigations — one by Fort Worth police and another within the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission — are already under way into what happened Sunday at the Rainbow Lounge.
And, police chief Jeff Halstead has announced the indefinite suspension of bar checks conducted jointly by his department and TABC.
Moncrief encouraged anyone who witnessed the events to tell police what they saw, and he said he has asked U.S. Attorney James Jacks to independently review the police investigation afterward “to ensure the department has thoroughly and impartially carried out its obligation to all the citizens of Fort Worth. I encourage the TABC to follow the same course.”
Moncrief also wished a speedy recovery for Chad Gibson, 26, who was among six people arrested in the early-morning raid. Gibson suffered a serious head injury and was recovering at John Peter Smith Hospital.
The Rainbow Lounge raid has sparked national outrage over police treatment of gays and lesbians. It occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, regarded as the birth of the modern gay-rights movement, when several spontaneous protests erupted after patrons at a New York gay bar fought back against a police raid.
In a news release Thursday announcing the suspension of all joint operations with the TABC, Halstead said that he wants to know more about the historical relationship between the TABC and Fort Worth police.
The chief also announced that he would make sure that all police officers receive multicultural training, with particular emphasis on dealing with the gay and lesbian community.
In a statement of their own, officials with the TABC said they backed the chief’s efforts.
TABC spokeswoman Carolyn Beck said the agency is conducting its own investigation and has placed the agents involved in the raid on the day shift, “which means desk duty.”
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