FORT WORTH - A Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission inspection sparked a series of protests in Fort Worth Sunday. Seven people were arrested during a planned inspection by the TABC and the Fort Worth Police Department at about 1 a.m. Sunday at the Rainbow Lounge on South Jennings in Fort Worth.
Two TABC officers and six Fort Worth police officers went into the bar to observe how the bar was serving alcohol. The inspection at the Rainbow Room, which recently opened, was one of three checks conducted Saturday night and early Sunday morning by the Fort Worth Police Department and TABC. Officers said the inspection was scheduled.
"They seemed to just be picking people at random, spinning them around," said Justin McCarty, a Rainbow Lounge employee.
Kristy Morgan said she believes her brother was one of those allegedly picked out by officers.
"He has bleeding on the brain that is growing right now in size," she said.
Her brother, Chad Gibson, is in ICU at JPS. He was given a ticket for public intoxication and assault, but he wasn't arrested.
Danny Crockett said he saw four officers detain Gibson.
"They choked his head back, pulled him back and then slammed him against the wall," he said.
The Fort Worth Police Department said two intoxicated patrons made sexually explicit movements. They said another drunken patron grabbed an officer in the groin.
Joel Burns, the first openly gay person elected to public office in Tarrant County, attended an evening rally on the courthouse steps.
"It is very frustrating that this did happen," he said. "We're looking to find answers as quickly and as best we can."
News 8 received dozens of phone calls and e-mails in relation to the story. Many said t they felt it suspicious that the raid occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stone Wall Gay Riot, which was a gay riot in New York City in 1969.
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Originally Posted by Linda
