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News & ArtsMonday, September 14, 2009
Homo / News Atlanta's Police Chief: It's Their Fault But We're Sorry
Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 3:49 PM
The latest from Atlanta:
Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said Monday that undercover vice officers had been to the club on two prior occasions and observed illegal activity there.... At a press conference, Pennington said he takes seriously allegations of police misconduct. He also expressed regret that Danni Lynn Harris, the department’s liason with the gay and lesbian community, had not been notified of the raid.“She should have been invited,” Pennington said. If she had been there, the chief said, any inappropriate behavior by the officers could have been curtailed. “This is very unfortunate this incident occurred,” Pennington said. “I’m sorry for what happened.”
Here's a little of what happened:
Garrett McLendon, 43, said patrons were not frisked, they were illegally searched. McLendon said he found himself laying in glass from a beer bottle that had fallen on the floor. When he asked if he could move, an officer shouted an expletive at him, McLendon said. McLendon said officers grabbed the prone customers by the back of their pants and turned them over and rifled through their pockets. “Still, as I look back at it, it’s hard to believe,” he said.The raid began last Thursday after 11 p.m. when police officers entered the bar and told everyone to lie facedown on the floor. For the next couple of hours, police went through the patrons’ pockets, apparently looking for narcotics, said Alan Begner, Atlanta Eagle’s lawyer. The officers also took everyone’s identification and ran background checks on them. One by one, the customers were allowed to leave, Begner said, noting no drugs or illegal contraband were found during the searches. “What happened to the customers was an assault,” Begner said.
And echoes of Fort Worth...
Atlanta mayoral candidates, including state Sen. Kasim Reed and city countil president Lisa Borders, have called for an investigation of the incident. City councilwoman Mary Norwood questioned whether this was the best use of police resources. Jesse Spikes, an attorney, said harassing people and treating them unfairly is not something the APD should be doing.
1
Not to make light of the situation, but Atlanta gays must be pretty boring and square if the cops searched and ran background checks on a whole bar full of them and they didn't find anything.
2
The floor was so Nasty and Sticky that after laying there for an hour while being processed some patrons had to be peeled off with a snow shovel.
3
Full text transcription of the complete Sunday rally will be posted later this evening on http://blog.glbtatl.org/ ... including a few recounts of experiences.
What is getting on everyone's nerves is that this was a raid on (as far as we know, so far) an arbitrary day, but generally such things require a significant amount of tangible evidence to instigate. Whereas if there was illegal conduct by patrons in the past (which is all APD is claiming at the moment), it's interesting that a raid would happen now with zero notice of those activities to the management. The staff would have assisted those officers, who claim to have seen illegal activity months ago, to stop that activity right then and there. Common sense doesn't seem to be one of the strong suits here.
I've been there enough to know that if some guy has his cock out for whatever reason and one of the staff finds out about it, the offender is escorted out right-quick. That stuff seems to fly just fine at one particular bar in Atlanta's "Cheshire Bridge Porn District", and oddly the bar in question has not been subject to a massive raid in recent memory....
What is getting on everyone's nerves is that this was a raid on (as far as we know, so far) an arbitrary day, but generally such things require a significant amount of tangible evidence to instigate. Whereas if there was illegal conduct by patrons in the past (which is all APD is claiming at the moment), it's interesting that a raid would happen now with zero notice of those activities to the management. The staff would have assisted those officers, who claim to have seen illegal activity months ago, to stop that activity right then and there. Common sense doesn't seem to be one of the strong suits here.
I've been there enough to know that if some guy has his cock out for whatever reason and one of the staff finds out about it, the offender is escorted out right-quick. That stuff seems to fly just fine at one particular bar in Atlanta's "Cheshire Bridge Porn District", and oddly the bar in question has not been subject to a massive raid in recent memory....
4
I heard the SWAT team was actually a troupe of SM candygram actors sent there to, you know, "swat" the boys...
5
@3
"this was a raid on (as far as we know, so far) an arbitrary day"
arbitrary?
wtf?!
It was Underwear Day!!!
"this was a raid on (as far as we know, so far) an arbitrary day"
arbitrary?
wtf?!
It was Underwear Day!!!
6
5
Totally.
If you're going to make homos lie face down on the nasty floor for an hour with their hands cuffed behind their back it's so much more fun on Underwear Day.
plus it save time when you frisk them.
Totally.
If you're going to make homos lie face down on the nasty floor for an hour with their hands cuffed behind their back it's so much more fun on Underwear Day.
plus it save time when you frisk them.
7
geez Dan, you asshole hack-
This is the "latest from Atlanta":
According to police records, undercover vice officers had been to the club and witnessed men having sex while other patrons watched. The department received its first complaints in May and sent officers there undercover before the Sept. 10 raid, Pennington said.
This is the "latest from Atlanta":
According to police records, undercover vice officers had been to the club and witnessed men having sex while other patrons watched. The department received its first complaints in May and sent officers there undercover before the Sept. 10 raid, Pennington said.
8
@1: BUT THEY TOTALLY SAW THEM HAVING SEX ONE TIME, HONEST!
Better safe than sorry, 'cuz you never know when one of them will skeet all over your face and blind you.
Better safe than sorry, 'cuz you never know when one of them will skeet all over your face and blind you.
9
how could the police address a legitimate criminal issue in a gay bar without activist gays screaming fowl? it's fucked up, and i feel bad for any officer who has to make such a call. they are the real victims.
10
@9: By identifying themselves to the parties involved in the crime at the time of the crime and without detaining the entire bar without cause, maybe? Oh, and having a legitimate criminal issue to address.
12
@11
no, gays want equality for positive things (llike employment protection), but not for normal consequences (like cracking down on illegal behavior in a bar). special rights.
no, gays want equality for positive things (llike employment protection), but not for normal consequences (like cracking down on illegal behavior in a bar). special rights.
13
@ 12,
There wasn't any illegal activity at the bar. That's why the queers and their neighbors, who actually didn't file any complaints about the bar, are outraged over. Someone phoned in one anonymous tip and the cops raided the place...without a search warrant. Try and keep up, Sweetie. You seem a little slow.
There wasn't any illegal activity at the bar. That's why the queers and their neighbors, who actually didn't file any complaints about the bar, are outraged over. Someone phoned in one anonymous tip and the cops raided the place...without a search warrant. Try and keep up, Sweetie. You seem a little slow.
14
@12: It was an anonymous tip and they found ZERO illegal activity at the bar during the raid. Keep up.
15
@13
how many complaints do you think need to be made? exactly how much special treatment do you guys need?
how many complaints do you think need to be made? exactly how much special treatment do you guys need?
16
13
undercover vice officers had been to the club and witnessed men having sex while other patrons watched.
if officers witnessed illegal activity while at the club the night of the arrests they wouldn't need a warrant.
eight people were arrested and charged.
undercover vice officers had been to the club and witnessed men having sex while other patrons watched.
if officers witnessed illegal activity while at the club the night of the arrests they wouldn't need a warrant.
eight people were arrested and charged.
17
@15: Let's start with not detaining 62 people for 2 hours and finding none of them to be holding drugs, contraband or with any open arrest warrants. Then we'll get to the part about due process and illegal search and seizure. Finally, let's go for 5th amendment rights to boot.
19
@15: Oh, I dunno. More than one? Or do you accept that one anonymous tip saying that, for example, you are dealing drugs out of your house authorizes the police to storm your home and detain you and your family without a warrant? I mean, if you accept that, you're more hardcore about equality than anyone else here.
21
Since when is being treated like human beings considered "special treatment"? This raid was not justified.
22
try to keep up girls-
you've got santorum in your eyes and can't read.
the raid was not based on tips.
it was based on illegal activity witnessed by police officers the night of the raid and previously.
you've got santorum in your eyes and can't read.
the raid was not based on tips.
it was based on illegal activity witnessed by police officers the night of the raid and previously.
26
25, arrested doesn't mean convicted. Do you not understand that? Lots of people get wrongly arrested. It doesn't mean the charged, or if charged that they won't be dropped. It definitely doesn't mean convicted. Again, nothing was found, and no one was arrested on sex charges.
http://www.sovo.com/thelatest/thelatest.…
http://www.sovo.com/thelatest/thelatest.…
27
25
The eight people who you claim were breaking the law were released, and the only "law breaking" taking place was that they didn't have a permit for "providing adult entertainment", which, as it turns out, they weren't doing.
Get your facts straight.
The eight people who you claim were breaking the law were released, and the only "law breaking" taking place was that they didn't have a permit for "providing adult entertainment", which, as it turns out, they weren't doing.
Get your facts straight.
28
26
calm down, Bob.
take a deep breath.
no one said anyone had been 'convicted'.
in fact, the word 'convicted' has not been used in any post or article anywhere in the country regarding this incident.
do you not understand that?
calm down, Bob.
take a deep breath.
no one said anyone had been 'convicted'.
in fact, the word 'convicted' has not been used in any post or article anywhere in the country regarding this incident.
do you not understand that?
29
from The Southern Voice:
Allegations of sex and illegal adult entertainment taking place at the Atlanta Eagle led to a three-month undercover operation that prompted the Atlanta police to raid the gay leather bar, Police Chief Richard Pennington said today in a press conference.
“We followed up on several complaints that provided descriptive information about alleged criminal conduct and the APD observed criminal behavior on Sept. 10,” Pennington said.
The APD released reports from undercover officers who visited the bar on May 21 and June 11 and said they witnessed oral and anal sex taking place in a back room of the bar, as well as dancers in their underwear and in g-strings who would pull their underwear down and accept tips from customers at the bar.
In order to dance partially clothed or nude, and if dancers accept money from patrons, a business is required to have a license, Pennington said.
Thursday is advertised as “Underwear Night” at the Atlanta Eagle where staff as well as customers dance in their underwear and dancers accept tips from patrons.
“This business does not have a license for either,” Pennington said.
Police reports state that undercover officers went into the bar on May 21 and June 11. On May 21, an officer reported seeing oral and anal sex taking place in a back room of the bar while other patrons watched. Police also stated dancers in their underwear pulled down their underwear to expose their penises and buttocks.
On June 11, and officer reported that he was told there was sex taking place in the back room. “I then walked to the rear of the public club and I saw a white male having sex with two other white males with a large crowd watching and playing with their penis,” the report states.
More...
Allegations of sex and illegal adult entertainment taking place at the Atlanta Eagle led to a three-month undercover operation that prompted the Atlanta police to raid the gay leather bar, Police Chief Richard Pennington said today in a press conference.
“We followed up on several complaints that provided descriptive information about alleged criminal conduct and the APD observed criminal behavior on Sept. 10,” Pennington said.
The APD released reports from undercover officers who visited the bar on May 21 and June 11 and said they witnessed oral and anal sex taking place in a back room of the bar, as well as dancers in their underwear and in g-strings who would pull their underwear down and accept tips from customers at the bar.
In order to dance partially clothed or nude, and if dancers accept money from patrons, a business is required to have a license, Pennington said.
Thursday is advertised as “Underwear Night” at the Atlanta Eagle where staff as well as customers dance in their underwear and dancers accept tips from patrons.
“This business does not have a license for either,” Pennington said.
Police reports state that undercover officers went into the bar on May 21 and June 11. On May 21, an officer reported seeing oral and anal sex taking place in a back room of the bar while other patrons watched. Police also stated dancers in their underwear pulled down their underwear to expose their penises and buttocks.
On June 11, and officer reported that he was told there was sex taking place in the back room. “I then walked to the rear of the public club and I saw a white male having sex with two other white males with a large crowd watching and playing with their penis,” the report states.
31
Rob, as admirable as your attempt to fight speculation with fact is, it's also futile. There are those who have decided that the police acted completely appropriately and were justified, and nothing will change their minds. These same people probably also think the Fort Worth police who were involved in the Rainbow Bar raid were unnecessarily and unjustly reprimanded. Because, you know, Chad Gibson was just asking to have his head pounded on the pavement.
Articles that quote police officers who claim to have seen certain things on nights other than the one the raid took place can't be trusted. The police officers claiming to have seen exposed buttocks may be covering their own asses. The fact that they arrested and held people without charges and without evidence speaks for itself.
Articles that quote police officers who claim to have seen certain things on nights other than the one the raid took place can't be trusted. The police officers claiming to have seen exposed buttocks may be covering their own asses. The fact that they arrested and held people without charges and without evidence speaks for itself.
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