''The terminations and suspensions announced today are reasonable and appropriate in light of the agents' significant failure to follow department procedures, failure to report the use of force and failure to report an injury to an arrested person. The agents' misconduct that evening is simply unacceptable and TABC is right to have terminated them.''
A spokesperson for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission which just fired two agents and a sergeant were fired for their involvement in an over-the-top raid of a gay bar in Fort Worth, TX called The Rainbow Lounge. One man was hospitalized with a head injury and several others were arrested for under the charge of public intoxication. Police officers and agents involved in the incident claimed that gay patrons touched them in a sexual manner and made lewd gestures toward them. Eyewitnesses said people who were arrested were not intoxicated and no such offenses were conducted against the arresting agents. The firings came as a bit of a surprise because a lot of reluctance was shown on the part of officials to move forward with an investigation. It is hoped that the police will face disciplinary actions as well. A coincidentally or not, many have suspected that the police raid occurred as a reaction to the 40th anniversary observance of the Stonewall riots on that same day. (Dallas Morning News)
