AKA William

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Yesterday, nine complaints, filed by patrons and employees of the Atlanta Eagle in response to the police raid of the gay bar, were released, and the complaints allege disgusting homophobic and racist comments made by the raiding police officers, including:

“One man said officers grabbed patrons who didn’t immediately lie down by the neck and forced them to the ground. The man said he was kicked in the ribs while lying down. “Then I heard laughing and giggling and saying this is more fun than raiding niggers with crack.“

And:

The customer recounted hearing anti-gay slurs: “I heard several slurs such as ‘I hate homosexuals.’ I also heard ‘I don’t like fags.’ One officer asked me if I was married and had any children, and he told me I should be ashamed for being there.”

And:

An employee who lives in an apartment over the Eagle, who said he was not working that night, said someone started pounding on his door. He opened the door to two cops who asked if anyone was having sex there. They asked why there was a bed and he said it was because he lives there. He was made to come downstairs and was arrested with the other employees. He recalled hearing comments like “You people are despicable.”

If any one of these complaints is verified, then I have to believe that the offending officers are in a whole world of trouble. And let’s not forget that APD’s LGBT liaison, Dani Lee Harris, was not informed of the raid.

Yesterday, about 20 people rallied at the Atlanta City Council’s Public Safety Committee meeting to protest the raid.

Watch Harris speak about her potential role in the upcoming investigation and video of the protest.