Ft. Worth's Mayor Mike Moncrief's response to the outcrys from gay activists at City Council meeting did not contain true statements.

When questioned on why the Rainbow Lounge discussion was put last on the City Council agenda when there were "hundreds here to hear the issue," pleaded the protestor; Mayor Moncrief's reply was 'well there's hundreds here to hear the discussion on homelessness as well." Not true! There were maybe 10 - 15 there to hear issue on homelessness, and literally hundreds to hear about the Rainbow Lounge incident. All overflow rooms were full and people standing outside that could not even get in the door to City Hall. Of course, this issue was put last for a political reason but it back fired on Moncrief this time and will continue to do so until the light is beamed down on the truth about the excessive, brutal, unlawful force used by the Fort Worth Police Department in the gay bar, Rainbow Lounge Raid by FWPD & Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC).

http://fortworthgov.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2

Watch "Election of Mayor Pro Tem" for July 14th meeting and listen for yourself. After the homelessness issue, do you see hundreds of people leave? No! What else is the Mayor untruthfully telling us and hoping we will believe? That he doesn't know where the millions upon millions of tax payer dollars are, that are missing from City Hall?

Former Mayor Pro Tem, Kathleen Hicks, using the gay community to her political advantage

Ft. Worth's councilmember (former Mayor Pro Tem) hasn't participated in Ft. Worth's Gay Pride Parade and has shyed away from the gay community and anything with the words gay or lesbian coming her way or near her BEFORE the Rainbow Lounge Raid. Her 'special best friend', Camille Rodriquez, even so much as walked up to a supporter of mine, Mr. Mike Phipps, at a debate forum during the last Council election race and threatened him with a lawsuit if he mentioned the word 'lesbian' in the same sentence with Kathleen Hicks' and Camille Rodriquez. She also said, she 'had people in places to take care of him' if he did so.

Now that she has a chance to pretend that she cares about the wrongdoings of the Fort Worth Police Department, she's using the gay community to do it. How many times has she questioned or held accountable the FWPD for complaints by citizens like myself and others when those complaints didn't make the local/national news? NONE!

In response to gay activists angered by being last on agenda, Ft. Worth's Mayor Mike Moncrief says "somebody had to be last."

Of course someone has to be last, the Mayor, I'm sure hoped that by putting the Rainbow Lounge discussion last that most people would give up, go home and let the issue die. With all due respect, which isn't much at times, the Mayor has no idea how to handle this issue, how to glide and slide around the issue about Fort Worth police force using excessive and unlawful force that he, and 8 other council members are suppose to be knowing how they operate. You must watch this, it's great entertainment. http://fortworthgov.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=522 Go to about 25:00 into the meeting.

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Eye witness accountants to what happened at Ft. Worth's Rainbow Lounge Raid. BTW, Who ordered this raid, why and did Ft. Worth's Police Chief know?

‘Tom Anable, a 55-year-old accountant who said he was in the bar during the raid, said that for more than a half-hour the officers entered the bar repeatedly in groups of three and escorted people out. Then around 1:40 a.m., he said, the officers started to get rougher, throwing one young man down hard on a pool table.
Minutes later, one of the state agents approached Mr. Gibson, who was standing on steps to a lounge at the back of the bar with a bottle of water in his hands, and tapped him on the shoulder, Mr. Anable said. Mr. Gibson turned and said, “Why?”
Then the officer, who has not been identified, twisted Mr. Gibson’s right arm behind his back, grabbed his neck, swung him off the steps and slammed his head into the wall of a hallway leading to the restrooms, Mr. Anable said. The agent then forced Mr. Gibson to the floor, Mr. Anable said.
“Gibson didn’t touch the officer,” Mr. Anable said. “He didn’t grope him.”
Two police officers and a second state agent arrived and helped subdue Mr. Gibson, kneeling on his back. A lounge employee, Lindsey Thompson, 23, said she saw an officer slam Mr. Gibson’s head into the floor while he was prone with his hands cuffed behind him.
The raid prompted swift action. Hours later, more than 100 people were protesting on the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse. As the week went on, calls for an independent investigation grew, with a state senator, a group of local business leaders and two churches joining the chorus.’ New York Times, July 4, 2009

http://www.fwweekly.com/index.php?option=com_wordpress&p=711&Itemid=482

Ft. Worth's Mayor Mike Moncrief putting political spin on the Rainbow Lounge Raid

'He's asking the U.S. Attorney for North Texas to independently review the police department investigation "...to ensure the department has thoroughly and impartially carried out its obligation to all the citizens of Fort Worth. I encourage the TABC to follow the same course."

http://cbs11tv.com/local/rainbow.lounge.gay.2.1070866.html

If the Mayor and the rest of City Council were doing their jobs well, they would be doing something about Fort Worth Police Department's poor job performance in enforcing the laws & city ordinances equally througout our entire City instead of selectively in certain areas and regarding certain laws. This incident is no surprise to us who know how the Police Department operates and see first hand the number of officers who abuse their authority. The City Council hasn't heard the complaints from us over the past few years -- they've chosen to ignore us and call us names like nay sayers and the like. Now they are shuffling the political cards in hopes they will fool enough people into thinking they know what they are talking about. Too bad they weren't voted out of office in May.

How many levels of 'Internal Investigation' are there w/in Ft. Worth Police Department?

Regarding the differing accounts of the FWPD/Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Rainbow Lounge raid, Fort Worth Chief of Police, Jeff Halstead says, "The Fort Worth Police Department has taken a very serious approach to this issue and has initiated the highest level of internal investigation it can."

Fort Worth City Council members have ignored complaints against Police Department for years before the Gay Bar Raid

I have sent email after email to all Fort Worth City Council members about the behaviors and inactions with the FWPD. Not one Council member responded. Yet when something happens such as the planned raid on the Rainbow Lounge and it makes national news then the career politicians come out of the woodwork and try to convince us that "we enforce the law equally, blah blah blah." How many times have I sent emails detailing the facts of poor police work on the Eastside and not one Ft. Worth City Councilmember has given a darn, not even my representative, Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks. Ft. Worth does not enforce the law equally. They protect the indigents, they protect the homeless and they selectively enforce the laws and ordinances. They protect each other, even the Department Heads and Police Chief. The egg belongs on the faces of every Ft. Worth City Council person except for Mr. Zim Zimmerman who was just elected to office. The Councilmembers don't have a clue to how the City Departments are managed and on what principles. I pray that the seats will stay hot for Ft. Worth's City 'leaders' regarding this incident.