Controversy over police raid of Atlanta Eagle spanned more than a year. Here is a complete timeline of events, from the raid to the settlement.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Batten has signed the settlement agreement between the city of Atlanta and plaintiffs of the Atlanta Eagle today, according to his clerk, making the more than $1 million settlement official and concluding the lawsuit over the botched gay bar raid.
The Atlanta City Council voted 14-0 on Monday to approve the settlement that included the $1.025 million monetary payout to the plaintiffs as well as ordering the Atlanta Police Department "to take certain actions in regard to their standard operating procedures" in the wake of the raid and lawsuit.
The settlement resolution includes $1.025 million to go into an escrow account with Lambda Legal, one of two nonprofit legal groups that joined attorney Dan Grossman in representing the Eagle plaintiffs. The Southern Center for Human Rights also joined the case. Patrons of the Atlanta Eagle filed the federal lawsuit against the city and dozens of Atlanta Police Department officers in November 2009 following the botched raid of the gay bar on the night of Sept. 10, 2009.
Geoff Calhoun held his face in his hands during the Atlanta City Council meeting on Dec. 6, visibly nervous as he leaned forward in his chair in the council’s chamber at City Hall.
Calhoun was a patron of the Atlanta Eagle, a gay leather bar, on Sept. 10, 2009, the night it was raided by undercover Atlanta Police Department officers and the APD’s Red Dog Unit.
As a plaintiff in the federal civil rights lawsuit filed by patrons who were detained and searched during the raid, Calhoun was waiting anxiously to see if the council would vote to approve a settlement the city reached with the plaintiffs on Dec. 3.
The Atlanta City Council voted unanimously this afternoon to approve a $1.025 million settlement in a federal lawsuit over the Atlanta Police Department's 2009 raid on the Atlanta Eagle, a gay bar on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
The settlement must now go back to the federal judge for final approval. All parties in the case are under a gag order until the settlement is finalized.
Before the vote, the council met in closed executive session to discuss the proposed settlement, which was reached Friday between city attorneys and attorneys for patrons and employees of the Eagle.
The settlement resolution includes $1.025 million to go into an escrow account with Lambda Legal, one of two nonprofit legal groups that joined attorney Dan Grossman in representing the Eagle plaintiffs. The Southern Center for Human Rights also joined the case.
The city of Atlanta has settled with the plaintiffs of the Atlanta Eagle, a gay bar raided by the Atlanta Police Department last year, but details of what exactly the settlement entails are not clear at this time.
Court documents filed late today state: "Settlement Conference held on 12/3/2010. The parties have reached an agreement to settle this case, which they believe is in the best interest of the City, its residents, and visitors. This agreement includes monetary compensation and reforms of the Atlanta Police Department. Until this agreement is approved by the Atlanta City Council and by the District Court, the parties and counsel shall not make further comment to the media about this case."
The next full meeting of the City Council is Dec. 6 at 1 p.m.
Patrons and employees of the Atlanta Eagle filed the federal lawsuit against the city and dozens of Atlanta Police Department officers in November 2009 following the botched raid of the gay bar on the night of Sept. 10, 2009.
The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that gay people, or those who are perceived to be gay, are far more likely to be the target of a violent hate crime than any other minority group in America.
According to a SPLC press release, gay people are twice as likely to be attacked in a violent hate crime as Jews and African Americans, four times more likely to be violently attacked than Muslims and 14 times more than Latinos.
"As Americans become more accepting of homosexuals, the most extreme elements of the anti-gay movement are digging in their heels and continuing to defame gays and lesbians with falsehoods that grow more incendiary by the day," said Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report. "The leaders of this movement may deny it, but it seems clear that their demonization of homosexuals plays a role in fomenting the violence, hatred and bullying we're seeing."
A federal judge ordered both sides of a lawsuit stemming from the Atlanta Police Department's botched raid on the Atlanta Eagle to meet Monday in court to attempt to mediate the case. But sources familiar with the case dispute a media report that the city has already sent settlement letters to some plaintiffs affected by the gay bar raid.
"The City of Atlanta has sent letters proposing possible settlements to the individual Plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit alleging violation of US Constitutional rights during the September 2009 raid of the Atlanta Eagle," Atlanta Progressive News reported today, noting that "two of the Plaintiffs confirmed receipt of the letters," which allegedly contain proposed monetary settlements based on how the individuals were treated during the raid.
But sources familiar with the case told the GA Voice that the letters were not sent by the city, but instead were internal communications between plaintiffs and their attorneys.
Renee Propes began work last Thursday in her new assignment as a deputy chief for the Atlanta Police Department, the first known openly gay person to hold a command position within the APD. She's a native Atlantan and has been on the force for 27 years.
Propes attended the APD's LGBT Advisory Board meeting Monday night and spoke with Georgia Voice for a few minutes about the excitement of her promotion as well as serving as a role model for others who cannot be out in the workplace.
"It's very exciting," she said about receiving the news from Chief George Turner. "This is the pinnacle of my career."
Rumors that the Atlanta Eagle may close by the end of this year were swatted down by co-owner Richard Ramey this week as the gay bar continues its federal lawsuit over the Atlanta Police Department’s botched raid of the bar last year.
Ramey talked to the GA Voice after a short blog entry in Creative Loafing on Nov. 5 lamented the laying off of longtime Eagle bartender Chris Lopez and stated the loss of Lopez was “not altogether surprising. Rumors have been flying that the bar will close before the end of the year.” The blog entry was later taken off the website.
When asked if the Atlanta Eagle was closing at the end of the year, Ramey said, “That is not necessarily true. Chris Lopez was laid off ... and one of the reasons is because times are tough. Just because we decided to lay a person off does not mean we are closing and no news agency should be reporting that.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed addressed the Stonewall Bar Association last night at the organization’s annual awards dinner. Reed was the keynote speaker at the dinner. The mayor promised late last week to make an announcement regarding news on the on-going Atlanta Eagle case and made good on his promise during his address last night.
“The mayor announced that he is going to form a blue ribbon panel to act as an intermediary somehow between the city and plaintiffs’ attorneys to try to resolve the case,” said Dan Grossman, an attorney for the Eagle plaintiffs who attended the dinner.
Officer Dani Lee Harris returned to work at the Atlanta Police Department on Monday, but not in the position she would like.
The former LGBT liaison for the APD said she reported to duty in the ID division of the APD located on Donald Lee Howell Road and is now in charge of expunging records from computers after court cases are resolved and orders to do so are handed down.
“I’m glad to be at work, glad to be making a paycheck,” she said. She said the officers in her department welcomed her warmly.