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Equality
Texas Releases Statement of Senator Wendy Davis and Representative Lon
Burnam on Rainbow Lounge Raid
Equality Texas has been working with Fort Worth
activists and elected officials, and community, state and
national leaders to ensure that a complete, accurate, and honest
review takes place of the actions of the Fort Worth Police
Department and the Texas Alcoholic and Beverage Commission
before, during and after the Saturday night raid on the Rainbow
Lounge in Fort Worth.
Texas State Senator Wendy Davis and Representative
Lon Burnam have met with representatives of the TABC regarding
this raid and have prepared a joint statement concerning the
raid and that meeting. As a courtesy to our members and a
recognition of the importance of the GLBT community, Senator
Davis and Representative Burnam, have asked Equality Texas to
release their joint statement to our members prior to its
release to the press.
Their joint statement is below:
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
CONTACT: Bernie Scheffler
July
1, 2009
512.463.0110
Today State Senator Wendy R. Davis and State
Representative Lon Burnam issued the following joint
statement.
From: State Senator Wendy Davis and State
Representative Lon Burnam
Re: Incident at Rainbow Lounge, 651 Jennings Ave.,
Fort Worth on June 28, 2009
We want to provide you with an update of our
response to concerns raised about the actions taken by City of
Fort Worth Police officers and Texas Alcohol and Beverage
Commission agents on the early morning of June 28, 2009 at the
Rainbow Lounge, which is located in the Fort Worth portion of
the districts that we represent. We are deeply concerned
about eye witness accounts of the events that occurred that
morning and intend to activate all possible investigatory
methods to learn the truth about those events.
As part of learning as much information as
possible about the incident at issue, we requested a meeting
with Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission. As a
consequence of that request, today we met with TABC
representatives Joel Moreno, Chief of Field Operations,
and Carolyn Beck, Public Information Officer. In that
meeting, we made a very detailed request for information
regarding the factual events that occurred at the Rainbow Lounge
on both June 25, 2009, when TABC agents first conducted
investigation activity at that location, and on June 28, 2009,
when TABC agents returned to that location. Additionally,
we requested detailed information with regard to the TABC
agents' compliance or non-compliance with procedures and
policies of TABC as those are expressed in the TABC Enforcement
Division Policy, Procedures & Forms manual.
It is our hope that through a thorough
investigation and analysis of the events that occurred at the
Rainbow Lounge, particularly in the early morning hours of June
28, our community and those outside our community who have
raised concerns, will be able to get the answers they need to
their valid questions. Most importantly, Chad Gibson and
his family, for whom we are deeply concerned, deserve
answers.
To that end, we intend to make a written request
to TABC for answers to the questions raised in the meeting that
we held today. Tomorrow, we will issue a joint letter
detailing that request.
Additionally, in order to assure that we and the
community at large receive the answers deserved regarding the
events of that morning, it is our hope that an objective,
outside investigation be made which would examine internal
investigation reports of both the Fort Worth Police Department
and the TABC, as well as eye witness accounts. Through
such an independent review, truth will be best assured.
Our community deserves to know whether unacceptable actions were
taken at the Rainbow Lounge, and, to the extent they did, that
the persons responsible for those actions will be held
accountable.
###
We appreciate their work and concern on this
issue, and we continue to ask for an immediate independent and
public investigation of the raid on Rainbow Lounge.
Continue to Ask
City Officials for an Independent
Investigation
Background:
Late Saturday evening, June 27th, Fort Worth Police
Officers and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) officers
entered into the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth for an alcoholic
beverage code inspection. What resulted was the arrest of
seven (7) patrons, one being critically injured during the
raid.
With the raid happening on the 40th anniversary of
the Stonewall Riot, we are reminded that we need to advocate for
the equal treatment of all citizens and this case, we call for
an immediate and public investigation into the circumstances
surrounding this raid, including the apparent large number of
police and TABC officers and paddy wagon. With one patron
currently in ICU as a result of injuries sustained during the
raid and arrest, the investigation needs to cover the use of
excessive force and whether these injuries were the result of
excessive force or were incidental to the arrest.
Paul E. Scott, Executive Director |
Senator Wendy Davis (D- Dist. 10 - Tarrant
County)
Representative Lon Burnam (D - District 90 -
Tarrant County)
YOU make
equality happen!
Continue to
Ask City Officials for an Independent
Investigation
Equality Texas has called on its North Texas
members and supporters to contact Mayor Moncrief and
the Fort Worth City Council Members to demand an
immediate and independent investigation.
If you have not participated, go to www.equalitytexas.org
and click on Advocacy Campaigns.
We will continue to update our members. Please visit
our website and blog at www.equalitytexas.org.
We thank all of the activists and supporters in North Texas
that are on the ground making demanding
action!
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Chad
Gibson and the supporters who will honor him this evening at the
Candlelight Vigil at Rainbow Lounge.
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