A second Dallas-area gay bar, The Eagle, was raided on Friday night just two weeks after a raid at the nearby Rainbow Lounge left one patron with a head injury and many questions remaining:
Houston Chronicle: "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officials entered the Dallas
Eagle club around midnight Friday. The raid came a few weeks after the
raid of a Fort Worth club where witnesses claimed authorities were
overly aggressive. A guard at the Eagle says TABC officials
were questioning whether the address on the liquor license was changed
after the club reopened just yards from its previous location. Gay activist Rick Vanderslice says he is 'outraged' and wants to know what is prompting the raids."
The Rare Reporter has a thorough summary of reports on the incident and says that officers wore "ninja" masks.
The Chaser Blog has photos.
Meanwhile, questions linger from the Rainbow Lounge incident: "Was the club
singled out for inspection by Fort Worth police and Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Commission officers because it caters to gays? Were the
officers fueled by homophobic hang-ups as they knocked drinks out of
people's hands, slamming one young man into a pool table and
gang-tackling 26-year-old Chad Gibson, the Euless computer technician
who wound up in the ICU with a blood clot in his brain? Or did the officers – confronted with a chaotic scene and an antagonistic crowd – use appropriate force to subdue unruly drunks?"
