Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief is
calling for federal investigators to look into what went wrong during
a bar inspection at a gay bar that landed one man in the hospital
with a severe head injury, the Star-Telegram reported.
Sunday's inspection at the recently
reopened Rainbow Lounge has drawn loud protests from the gay community
which has called the raid “police harassment.”
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The inspections, carried out jointly by
the Fort Worth Police Department and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission, are under internal investigation by both agencies.
Police officers involved have been desked. And Police Chief Jeff
Halstead has announced suspension of all joint operations between the
two agencies.
But the department's initial defense of
the raid – the inspection was routine, and patrons sexually groped
officers – has led to wider calls for an outside investigation,
and has left the police department facing a public relations
nightmare.
City Councilmembers Kathleen Hicks and
Joel Burns, who is openly gay, were the first to call for an outside
investigation.
Moncrief joined the chorus on Friday,
in a written statement he asked for federal review of the police
department's final investigation to ensure that the department “has
thoroughly and impartially carried out its obligation to all the
citizens of Fort Worth.” And added, “I encourage the TABC to
follow the same course.”