“He Fell and Hit His Head”

Timothy Kincaid

June 29th, 2009

CBS Channel 11 is reporting the most bizarre story yet about how Chad Gibson came to be in intensive care with bleeding on the brain:

Police Chief Jeff Halstead said Gibson had grabbed at the agent’s groin and was so drunk he was vomiting and fell and hit his head. Gibson was one of those arrested but was taken to the hospital instead of jail.

They also provide this first-hand account:

George Armstrong, 41, said he had been at the Rainbow Lounge about 30 minutes and had ordered one drink when officers stormed inside. He said as on officer passed him, he smiled and flashed the peace sign, but then he was suddenly grabbed and tackled to the floor with his arm twisted behind his back.

“He was yelling at me to stop resisting arrest, but I wasn’t doing anything. It was horrible. I really thought he had broken my shoulder,” Armstrong told The Associated Press on Monday. “I’ve never been so embarrassed and humiliated. I didn’t do anything to him.”

Armstrong was arrested, but he said no officers advised him of his Miranda rights or administered any tests to determine his blood-alcohol level.

He said he noticed that other people who were arrested were injured or said they had been tackled by police.

When Armstrong was released from jail the next day, he went to the hospital, where his arm was put in a sling after X-rays determined his shoulder and back were severely bruised and strained, he said.

Armstrong said he never saw anyone inside the Rainbow Lounge make lewd gestures at or grab the officers. He said the raid happened very quickly at the club that had just reopened.

“To me it seemed like they were trying to make a point,” Armstrong said.

Jim Burroway

June 29th, 2009

“Gee, he must have fallen after we spun him around and slammed him against the wall.”

Lindoro Almaviva

June 29th, 2009

Just file a lawsuit against the bastards. I see no problem in forcing the police officers, their superiors and the department into bankruptcy. Apparently they think we are sissies and will not fight. I say lets go after them until they loose everything, family, jobs, money… Then let’s watch then REALLY be scared of gay people.

Sorry for the language, this kind of thing enrages me.

gar

June 29th, 2009

Wait, was this in 2009 or 1969?

Richard W. Fitch

June 29th, 2009

Anyone have an update link on the the status of Chad Gibson? Haven’t seen any since mid-morning. Are there any contacts for the family? What is the current word on financial assistance? Like some others who have commented, I hope the FW Police get saddled with ALL the bills plus punitive awards; but knowing how the system works that is doubtful. ..sad..so very sad..

Tom in Lazybrook

June 29th, 2009

This sounds like a sick attempt by the FW Police Chief to set up some sort of “Gay Panic” defense.

Does the police chief think that this is the 1940’s? He keeps digging himself a hole.

There ARE pictures and multiple eyewitness accounts showing Mr. Gibson being assaulted as he walked to the bathroom. Who can corroborate this potential slander of Mr. Gibson?

How about this, you charge Mr. Gibson with assault. And we charge the officers for assault. Both criminally. Then lets see who goes to jail.

Lets recap.

1) TABC and FW PD raided a gay bar, ostensibly for having drunk patrons, but did NOT bring breathalyzers. And refused to perform them when patrons asked. Sober patrons were arrested.

2) TABC/FWPD told a patron upon entry that their probable cause was a tip from a disgruntled former employee. Even though the bar had been open all of ONE WEEK.

3) Arrests were arbitrary. A female patron, even though she told the police that she was drunk was not arrested. Gay men were.

4) The TABC was apparently not following its protocol in the raid.

5) The police made the extrememly offensive assertion that the Gay men in the bar were grabbing their crotches. Assertion not validated by any of the patrons. Or the security cameras in the bar.

6) The police now claim that Mr. Gibson was the person who did the crotch grabbing. Are they going to claim ‘Gay Panic’ as an excuse.

7) Mr. Gibson was apparently not arrested for assaulting police officers because he was ‘so drunk that he was throwing up all over the place’. So if I throw up, I can go assault police officers and not be charged? Wow, didn’t know that one. That cracked skull and internal bleeding in his brain had nothing to do with the vomiting apparently.

8) Now Mr. Gibson apparently fell and hit his head, thus supposedly causing the potentially life threatening head injury. And video or pics of him slipping and falling? Other than with 6 grown brutal cops throwing him to the ground?

9) Leaving Mr. Gibson aside for a brief moment, lets move on to Mr. Anderson, who claims that he was arrested for being drunk and denied a sobriety test and not read his miranda rights.

Whose a lawyer in here. How many lawsuits are we up to here? How many criminal acts by the police?

And what will the FW PD do tomorrow?

tavdy79

June 30th, 2009

Oscar Wilde said that “America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between“; he’s usually on the money, but it seems that time he was very wrong. Certain Texans clearly haven’t evolved beyond barbarism yet.

Timothy (TRiG)

June 30th, 2009

… without an intervining period of civilisation, I think. A good line, yes, and disturbingly true.

As a person who’s only just started going to gay bars (just in the past week), I find this story very disturbing. Could it happen here? I like to think not, but it could.

I’ll echo RW Fitch: I’d be glad to contribute a little to any medical fees, though the police should be forced to pay.

TRiG.

paul j stein

June 30th, 2009

Sue them and raid their pension accounts. ANY person involved all the way up the chain of command!

Kristie

June 30th, 2009

So, they needed 6 cops to restrain a guy that was supposedly so drunk off his ass that he was vomitting on himself and tripping over his own feet? Yeah, that’s believeable. WTF? Do these morons actually think anyone is going to believe they didn’t beat the crap out of this guy? Every one of the cops that participated in that raid should be investigated and the ones that assaulted Chad Gibson should lose their jobs & be charged with assault.

Hopefully, enough people will make enough noise about this situation that some real action will be taken. Let’s hope it doesn’t take this poor young man dying to get someone to do the right thing!

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