whatever your view on gay rights...

[smileyeagle1021]

... this should really bother you. 40 years after Stonewall and police officers are still beating people, really for no other reason than the person is gay.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/arc...-had-it-coming
These cops have no excuse... anyone want to bet had they accused a woman of groping them and they beat her near to death they would be facing immediate termination and lengthy prison sentences? Not only that, but if the beating was justified because the victim 'groped' them, why the fuck hasn't the victim been charged with assault or battery? Why isn't that what he was being arrested for. Oh, that's right, because the Fort Worth police are homophobic pigs.

[BroomJockey]

While I agree that the cops need severe discipline, up to and including jail time, for manslaughter, if the guy dies, I really need to question that source. They're just slightly inflammatory. Seems no one has any photos of him actually being banged around, just pinned by 5 officers, and a claim that a dent in the wall is where his head hit, while others say that when he was put to the ground is when the head injury occurred.

Again, to make my position clear, the cops completely overreacted even *if* the guy made a grope, and a full inquiry is definitely required, the situation's heinous enough that it really doesn't need the overblown "translation" the site provided:

Allow me to translate the chief's comments: "Them faggots in that thar bar touched mah officers and now they're complainin' about some rough stuff and one little ol' faggot with a brain injury? Those perverts should be grateful they're alive."

Manufacturing excess outrage in a situation that could generate plenty on its own is a bad idea. For one, enough calls for blood, and any independent inquiry can't be trusted. They'll either rally to the department's defence and clear them all, or throw one or two cops to the wolves to placate the mob. A reasoned, unpressured inquiry could end up going right up the chain. As it is, the site is just going to set up an 'us vs. them' defence for the cops. I can tell you right now this is how it'll go:
Cops: The suspect was behaving in an intoxicated manner, and made a move to place his hand on Officer Homophobe's crotch. When ordered to stand back, and we went to apprehend him, he resisted, requiring all of us to subdue him, and use force to place the cuffs on him. Unfortunately, in his struggles, he managed to bang his head several times, rendering his injuries. Due to his intoxicated state, and struggles, he managed to slip out of officers' arms several times on his way to the cruiser. When we realized the extent of his injuries, we immediately sought out medical attention. The injuries are unfortunate, but we are not at fault, and the public is simply out for a scapegoat in a terrible situation.

General public: *incoherent rage at misrepresentation of facts and bald-faced liary*

Cops: See? Scapegoating. We're the victims of public opinion!

[AdminAssistant]

Well, Dan Savage is a pretty good and....expressive writer, as any reader of "Savage Love" well knows. Quite frankly, I'm with him 100%. A group of cops beat up a gay kid, and now they're trying to use the 'Gay Panic' defense for beating someone up because they were gay.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Wait, wait, let me make sure I understand this. If I feel a hand on my ass in Fort Worth, you mean I can turn around and put 6 inches of steel into someone's liver and get away with it scott free?

Seriously, every woman in Fort Worth can react with lethal force next time some drunk cops a feel in a bar?

If someone makes mouth noises at me while I walking, can I shoot them in the face? Wow. Some guy comes out with "hey baby" and the courts are fine with it if I go to work on his skull with a pipe threader? That's great!

Fascinating. I wonder what these assheads do when some woman does try to complain someone groped her.

[BroomJockey]

Wait, wait, let me make sure I understand this. If I feel a hand on my ass in Fort Worth, you mean I can turn around and put 6 inches of steel into someone's liver and get away with it scott free?

No no no no.

Gods no!

You need to beat them to death. Chairs are helpfully provided by the establishment.

[tropicsgoddess]

That's just wrong. Every single one of those cops, including the chief all need to be terminated and serve some serious time in the clink. There was no need for them to raid the bar at all!

[Boozy]

If you believe the eye witnesses, it appears that the cops went in looking for trouble. They wanted any excuse to beat the shit out of a few "faggots". Any at all.

I wasn't there, but I can tell you that Dan Savage's take on it seems very plausible to me.

[tabbyblack13]

I hate to say this but it doesn't surprise me at all. I use to live south of the Minneapolis area and this was a common new story when I was growing up. It was about once a month that a story would come on about police brutality. It was towards minorities at that time.

Besides the beating I have to wonder why go into a bar looking for drunks. As long as they are not driving or causing trouble then they should be good. These police officers shouldn't have been there in the first place. The groping claim is just cover. If it was true then he should have been charged with assault.

[BroomJockey]

Besides the beating I have to wonder why go into a bar looking for drunks. As long as they are not driving or causing trouble then they should be good.

Overserving is illegal in some places, and can land the bartender and the establishment in a buttload of trouble.

[Boozy]

Public drunkenness is also illegal in many places. Cops aren't usually dicks about it, but they will put you in the drunk tank if you've become incapacitated or potentially violent. It's for the drunk's safety and everyone else's.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

The groping claim is just cover. .

It's not even that, since when is it perfectly legal to react with deadly force over someone copping a feel? That they think it is is unbelievable.

[Slytovhand]

That's just wrong. Every single one of those cops, including the chief all need to be terminated and serve some serious time in the clink. There was no need for them to raid the bar at all!

Why would you put them in jail if they're dead??

OOoohhhh... you mean terminated from their jobs

(sounded better the first time... )

But, I totally agree with BJ's first post... the more anger this arouses, the less likely much will come of it (other than maybe a scape goat). Let the legal process take it's course, then it can be agitated to head hunting further up the chain.

So.. I wonder what would have happened if it was a girl who patted a cop on the butt...

[Wingates_Hellsing]

There was a a lot I was going to say, but I wont.

Just one more reason not to trust cops just because their cops.

I wonder if I can apply for my CCL in advance of my 21st birthday?

[BroomJockey]

I wonder if I can apply for my CCL in advance of my 21st birthday?

Err, you realize, if you were the guy being cuffed by these cops and they found that, or if you pulled it around these cops, you wouldn't have gone to the hospital, you'd have gone to the morgue?

[Flyndaran]

There was a a lot I was going to say, but I wont.

Just one more reason not to trust cops just because their cops.
...

Absolutely. Some cops are paragons of virture and will lay down their lives to protect people. Others are just scum with badges.