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FWPD Rainbow Lounge report (.pdf)
TABC Rainbow Lounge report (.pdf)
Fort Worth panel urges expansion of gay rights
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FORT WORTH — Gay-rights activists have renewed their call for an independent investigation into a controversial bar check at the Rainbow Lounge, outraged that Fort Worth police and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission have concluded that no excessive force was used.
Many lashed out at Police Chief Jeff Halstead for giving three officers one- to three-day suspensions, which one person described as only a "slap on the hand," while the alcohol commission fired two agents and their supervisor."It was what I expected the results would be; it wasn’t what I hoped it would be," said Thomas Anable, who was in the bar during the incident and was among about two dozen observers who attended a morning news conference across the street from the Rainbow Lounge.Jon Nelson, spokesman for Fairness Fort Worth, said the discipline issued by the chief "falls far short" given what took place inside the bar.Halstead said that in the Police Department’s inquiry of four formal complaints and 38 alleged policy violations, investigators found that officers used only the minimal amount of force needed to make arrests."According to witnesses, Fort Worth police officers did not use excessive force," Halstead repeated twice, later adding, "what the community perceives as excessive force is different from a departmental standard where you’re going to impact somebody’s career."The June 28 bar check, one of three by Fort Worth police that night, resulted in five public intoxication arrests and left one patron, Chad Gibson of Euless, in the hospital with a serious head injury. Gibson was cited for assault and public intoxication. Nelson compared the discipline to a child being sent to the principal’s office and being told, "Don’t do that but have a nice day."Nelson said that while witness accounts may differ, he believes that their statements made clear that police and state agents were aggressive, used excessive force and instilled fear in patrons. "And for what reason?" Nelson said. "There is none and for that, whether it be a gay bar or a straight bar or any kind of bar, five days’ suspension is wholly inadequate for what happened."Attorney Don Tittle, who is representing Gibson and George Armstrong, who was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication, said his clients’ injuries speak for themselves. "It sounds to me like they are trying to thread the liability needle," Tittle said. "I have two clients, one with a serious head injury and another who has a torn rotator cuff. . . . Both were suffered in takedown. . . . Countless people said the [officers and agents] were being aggressive. But they just concluded otherwise."Halstead defended his choice of discipline, later adding that the officers’ chain of command had recommended that no suspensions be given. "They have permanent suspensions that will never leave their careers," Halstead said. "That’s very significant."
