A Tale of Two Cities.

Two bars, two Southern Cities ( well, one and a half..), two police forces with too much time on their hands. As reported here the Atlanta Police raided the bar that Neil and I met in (!) forcing patrons to lie on the floor ( again, I would have debated getting shot...) . Seemed like real over kill to almost everyone. Here is the original story. A more violent police force also " raided" a Ft. Worth Texas gay bar back in June, with some patrons getting badly injured. Here is that story.

Well my home town, after LOTS of pressure and a Mayoral Race is calling the offending cops before a citizen review board: (from the AJC) :

" The Atlanta City Council will issue subpoenas to force 18 police officers to answer questions from the Citizen Review Board about a raid last September at a gay bar where patrons said they were verbally abused and forced to lie face down on the floor, some for more than an hour.

The Committee on Council's unanimous vote came after more than an hour of testimony, questions and debate Monday on the board's request to increase the pressure on Atlanta police officers who have appeared before the board but refused to answer questions. The union and officers say they are not shielded from criminal charges based on testimony before the board as they are when they answer questions in an APD internal investigation.
There is no criminal investigation pending, though four Atlanta Eagle employees are charged with violating city ordinances. A civil case was filed in federal court against the officers and the city, however" The rest....

Good for Atlanta, not so much Ft.Worth.

"In June, Ft. Worth police stormed the Rainbow Lounge and forced patrons to the floor during a raid, supposedly to crack down on sex acts at the bar. The incident left Chad Gibson with a bruised brain and six days in the ICU. Oh, and he is the one the city is now targeting." The rest..... This poor guy gets the crap beat out of him, in the hospital for a while with a serious brain injury and the DA is going after him. At least Mr. Gibson and the others are fighting back.

2010.....