The Rainbow Lounge raid appears to have galvanized the local community and created a political backlash against police tactics. The case gets curiouser and
curiouser. All sorts of internal investigations are being ordered. One young man, a computer technician from Euless, is still in the hospital with a hairline skull fracture and a concussion. Police say he made a pass at them. Witnesses say he was drinking a bottle of water, and got his head slammed into a wall when he asked "Why?" when police arrested him.
Unlike Stonewall 40 years ago, some church congregations are actively involved in the protests and in the calls for internal investigations.
I knew there was a reason why I loved Fort Worth.
UPDATE:
A week later, and Ft. Worth LGBTs are still keeping up the
pressure. Good for them!
I'm beginning to wonder if someone put the FWPD up to the raid. The reasons for it -- what they suspected might be going on there -- have never been clear to me. It looks more to me like an old-fashioned gay bar raid. Usually police in most cities would swoop down on gay bars and sweep the parks in election years in an effort to impress the respectable citizenry with their strenuous efforts to make the city "safe for families." Today, that's something that you mostly see in smaller towns. Bar raids in most cities (including Texas cities) are a thing of the past. The last bar raid in St. Louis that I'm aware of took place more than 20 years ago during the reign of the notorious Police Commissioner Peach.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a local politician or a religious group in Fort Worth is behind this bar raid.
It's very strange. Perhaps a local politician goaded by a religious group. The police and the city authoritehs are in a big pile of doo-doo now.
ReplyDelete