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FORT WORTH — Police internal-affairs investigators have concluded that Fort Worth officers did not use excessive force during an inspection of a gay bar in June, three sources told the Star-Telegram on Wednesday.
No officers will be fired, the sources said, but some will likely be disciplined for infractions including not filing reports on time after the June 28 incident at the Rainbow Lounge.Police officials declined to comment Wednesday on the investigation's findings, saying Police Chief Jeff Halstead will announce the results at a news conference Thursday.Also Thursday, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is scheduled to issue its findings from an internal investigation involving two TABC agents who participated in the bar check. They were fired for violating numerous policies, agency officials have said.Copies of the agency's 74-page report will be available Thursday, a spokeswoman said. A Fort Worth police spokesman said officials are not sure whether their report will be released Thursday."Chief Halstead is working closely with city attorneys to make the investigation available to the public as soon as possible," Lt. Paul Henderson said. "However, there are legal restrictions as far as what information can be released under the law."The inspection's falloutThe Rainbow Lounge inspection, one of three by Fort Worth police that night, resulted in five arrests for public intoxication and put one patron, Chad Gibson, in the hospital with a serious head injury. Gibson was cited for assault and public intoxication.Both state agents and Fort Worth police officers were accused of using excessive force, and protests erupted.Less than a month later, commission Administrator Alan Steen told the Dallas Voice in an exclusive interview that state agents should not have participated in the police inspection and that rules were not followed.Halstead has since publicly apologized to those who perceived the bar check as a "raid," stating that "flawed policy" led to the incident. Halstead promised to implement new guidelines.State agents Christopher Aller and Jason Chapman were fired in August, shortly after the findings were released from the first part of a two-part TABC investigation.Aller and Chapman, a trainee, violated numerous policies, including participating in the operation without approval, wearing unapproved attire and failing to report that force was used against patrons or that one patron was injured, according to investigators.The agents' supervisor, Terry Parsons, was also fired, even though he had announced his retirement.The commission had said it would release the second part of the investigation late last month, but it was delayed after the investigator asked for more time. The agency set a new release date of mid-November but announced Tuesday night that the findings and report will be available Thursday — the same day Fort Worth police had planned to release their findings.DEANNA BOYD, 817-390-7655; MIKE LEE, 817-390-7539
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