Upset Fort Worth residents protest raid on gay nightclub

Upset Fort Worth residents protest raid on gay nightclub | Top Stories | Star-Telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- More than 100 people are at the Tarrant County Courthouse to protest a police raid early this morning at a gay night club.

Witnesses say that police arrived at about 1 a.m. at the Rainbow Lounge on South Jennings Street and arrested seven people. They said one of those arrested fractured his skull during the takedown and is at a Fort Worth hospital

About 75 to 100 people showed up earlier this afternoon at the Rainbow Lounge to make signs for the rally. Some of the signs read: "Give us Answers Now" and "We Have Rights Too."

The raid happened to be on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York which began on the night of June 28, 1969, as a protest by gays against police harassment and helped trigger the modern U.S. gay rights movement.

Fort Worth police released a statement Sunday that the Rainbow Lounge was not the only bar targeted by six Fort Worth police officers and two agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and a supervisor. The group first went to the Rosedale Saloon and Cowboy Palace on Rosedale Street. Nine people were arrested, police report.

The investigators then proceeded to the Rainbow Lounge, where seven arrests were made, the police statement said. While walking through the Rainbow Lounge, an "extremely intoxicated patron made sexually explicit movements toward the police supervisor," the statement said. This individual was arrested for public intoxication.

Another intoxicated individual also made sexually explicit movements toward another officer, and he was arrested for public intoxication, the statement said. A third individual inside the lounge assaulted a TABC agent by grabbing the agent’s groin, according to the statement. He was escorted outside and arrested for public intoxication. He was released to paramedics because of his extreme intoxication as he was repeatedly vomiting, police reported.

While dealing with this suspect, another officer requested assistance from inside the club with an intoxicated patron who was resisting arrest. This person was placed on the ground to control and apprehend him, police reported.....

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