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Los Angeles Times:
Todd Camp and some friends had just marked the 40th anniversary of the police raid on New York's Stonewall Inn by screening a documentary on the historic gay riots and then heading for drinks at the Rainbow Lounge.
Camp remembered looking across the bar, packed with gay and some straight couples, and marveling how much times had changed since Stonewall -- the spark that ignited the gay rights movement.
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200+ disgraceful videos of police brutality organized here and counting:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CopsOutofControl
And these just the ones caught on video. Google police brutality and there are over 3,000,000 listings. YouTube has over 30,000 videos. The cops are above the law, they have too much power and the people are scared of them. This is not supposed to happen here in America.
"Protect and serve"? What a joke. When's the last time someone asked the police for protection and actually received any? They are not going to protect you. Their job is to roam around taxing (fines) people and trying to aggravate them into breaking a law and on occasion showing up on a scene and barking orders at everyone insight and trying to aggravate them into disobeying an order so they can taser someone. Protect?! How many women have pleaded with the police for protection, told there is nothing they can do until the woman is beaten, raped or dead? They are NOT going to protect you EVER! It's not their job.
"Serve"? When is the last time they served us? They refer to us as civilians. Be dammd if they will accommodate any of our requests. When is the last time you saw a cop do anything to serve us? Ever seen one help an old lady across the street or assist a handicapped person? They won't even bend down to pick up litter at their feet. The only time they make an effort is if there is a chance to beat, taser or arrest someone.
Sadly, Texas isn't in the minority when it comes to the police harassing gay men and women. A good friend of mine was followed from a gay bar by two military guys who pulled him into a parking garage under an apartment building and nearly stomped him to death. My friend crawled to the street and flagged down a passing police officer. Instead of calling an ambulance, the cop asked him what he expected to happen when he followed strangers into a parking garage and threatened to arrest him because he was slurring his words. The cop then got a call on his radio and left. My friend crawled to his car and drove himself to the ER, where he was found to have four broken ribs, one had pierced and collapsed a lung, a concussion, broken cheek bone and eye socket, several broken teeth, gravel embedded to the bone in his face, one large piece had chipped the jaw bone, and his entire body and internal organs were so swollen that he was kept wrapped in padded cloth from the neck down and kept completely immobilized for three days for fear he could begin hemorrhaging internally. He was in hospital for three weeks, bedridden at home for three months more, and the police never even assigned his file for investigation.
What on EARTH was wrong with my post?
Fort Worth is about 40 years behind the times so characterizing this as another Stonewall appears accurate. I remember traveling to Fort Worth in the '80s, being called a Yankee and hearing bank examiners using the 'N' word to describe black co-workers. Texas...what a great place.
and Im sure everyone in your town sings "kumbaya" on the hillside in candlelight vigils to celebrate gay black woman day every year.
I dunno, I don't think that there's enough info in this story for me to really make a judgment. The timing is extremely suspicious but I'd wait to hear the cops' reason for busting in before I call hate crime on this.
""You're touched and advanced in certain ways by people inside the bar; that's offensive," Halstead, the police chief, told Dallas-Fort Worth TV station WFAA. "I'm happy with the restraint used when they were contacted like that.""
Eye witness reports claim they just came in and started arresting people. First was a guy sitting at the bar doing nothing but sipping on his drink.
The police are full of it.
I'd like to see that police chief take the same attitude if every woman who was ever felt up or pinched by a cop bashed their brains out.
Without more info, I think it's too early to reach any concrete conclusion about what happened. It very well could've been a routine check (esp. if other bars were checked beforehand, as stated) that got outta hand simply due to stupid behavior of patrons inciting an overreaction from authorities. I'm just as likely (if not more) to think patrons would 'skew the facts' to cover their butts as police might. As with most arguments, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle of what both sides claim and some blame likely assignable to both.
Equating it to Stonewall (other than the anniversary of the date) and calling it a "raid" seems kinda dumb too. NOTHING in the story seems to indicate the authorities went there to single them out in any way. Also, is that place big enough for 300+ people? Could be a fire code violation too!
YOur kidding !
This happened like over a week ago and the gay blogs have been all over it. Even the local media in Ft Worth has covered it.
Please do not try to make breaking news out of the Pyramids of Egypt.
States claim to have financial woes
while they shamefully squander scarce resources
on expressions of their hatefulness and bias!
I smell bacon!
You know Texas seems to talk a lot about secession, after crap like this, can't we just throw them out?
Texas doesn't talk a lot about secession. Governor "Pretty" Ricky Perry talks about that, but he is not Texas. He is at best a cremonial figurehead with a platform and a microphone. He didn't even get 40% of the vote. Love the asinine thinking though.
Yeah, and the thought that Gov. "Good Hair" Perry is gonna call for an independent investigation is laughable on it's face. This is the guy who stood at the pulpit of a church and signed the ammendment to recognize only man on woman marriage and said that if the gays don't like it, they can move. It'll take more than Closet case Perry to run me out of my birth state. I'll stay and fight the fight, thank you.
How many Fort Worth cops does it take to check a liquor license? Ijits! Bullys! Cowards! Liars!
how many new york cops does it take to shoot a suspect 40 times. 2 apparently, after reloading 8 round clips a few times.
You have to love how the right wing tea baggers who shout about their feared police state have NOTHING to say about a bunch of cops almost killing a citizen and harassing others.
Why? Because they were harassing and assaulting citizens they don't care about to begin with.
Nice work, MSM. Only took you what, ten days to report on this?
I saw this story last week.
The people should Not be afraid of the government. It should be the other way around.
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Los Angeles Times | P.J. Huffstutter
First Posted: 07- 6-09 08:33 AM | Updated: 07- 6-09 09:40 AM