Atlanta City Council apologizes to Eagle lawsuit plantiffs

“So many rights were violated,” Bond said this week.

“Atlanta is the ‘city too busy to hate’ and the cradle of the Civil Rights movement. We cannot tolerate that type of abuse,” he said.

Chris Lopez, a former bartender at the Atlanta Eagle who was arrested the night of the raid, was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit. He has filed his own individual claim against the city seeking $250,000 for “false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.”

Bond said council members kept the apology resolution to only the plaintiffs because of claims like Lopez and others that may occur from those at the bar that night — apologizing to everyone, he said, could put the city at further financial risk.

“There were issues of concern that other plaintiffs may file, but those concerns were addressed and everyone [on the council] was on board and all felt this needed to be done,” Bond said.

And with Lopez’ complaint still to be resolved, Bond predicted that one day, “We’ll probably issue another apology to him.”

 

Top photo: After it was proposed by Councilmember Michael Julian Bond, the Atlanta City Council officially apologized to the Eagle plaintiffs this week for the September 2009 raid on the gay bar. (Courtesy photo)