At today's Atlanta City Council meeting, members voted 13-0 to settle a complaint by eight men for $120,000, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Seven of the men were employees of the bar the night it was raided two years ago and one was a patron, said attorney Dan Grossman.
The Atlanta City Council's Public Safety Committee today approved a $120,000 settlement for eight new plaintiffs who sued the city over the unconstitutional raid on the Atlanta Eagle raid two years ago.
The settlement now goes to the full council on Monday, said Dexter Chambers, spokesperson for the Atlanta City Council. The committee approved the settlement 7-0.
The Atlanta City Council's Public Safety Committee is expected to vote on a settlement offer to eight plaintiffs in a second lawsuit against the city for a total of $120,000, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The committee vote takes place today. If approved, the settlement will then go to the full council for approval on Monday.
Grossman represented the original plaintiffs in a federal civil lawsuit against the city for the botched 2009 raid on the Atlanta Eagle and is now representing other men in a second lawsuit against Reed and 25 officers involved in the raid.
A former Atlanta Eagle bartender is suing the city of Atlanta and four individual Atlanta police officers in federal court saying his constitutional rights were violated.
Chris Lopez was a bartender at the gay Midtown bar the night of Sept. 10, 2009, when the APD's Vice Unit and the now disbanded Red Dog Unit raided it. He alleges in his lawsuit filed Sept. 9 — before the two-year statute of limitations expired — that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when he was arrested and then put on trial in Atlanta Municipal Court. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia.
Individual officers named in the lawsuit are Willie Adams, John Brock, Kelly Collier and Brandon Jackson.
Eight "John Does" settled with the city rather than be part of the lawsuit filed Thursday in Fulton Superior Court against Mayor Kasim Reed and more than 20 individual police officers saying their constitutional rights were violated when police raided the Atlanta Eagle, a Midtown gay bar, on Sept. 10, 2009.
The amount of money the eight men settled for is not known publicly and will not likely be made public until the city council is expected to vote on approving the settlement in the next several weeks. However, attorney Dan Grossman, representing the plaintiffs in the second Eagle lawsuit, said negotiations with the city have been going on for several months.
Patrons of the Atlanta Eagle the night the gay bar was raided on Sept. 10, 2009, and who were not part of the original federal civil lawsuit, plan to file suit later this week against the city of Atlanta and individual police officers involved in the raid.
The suit will be filed by Sept. 9 — before the second anniversary of the raid and the statute of limitations expires for people seeking claims against the city. People who were in the bar the night it was raided and not part of the first lawsuit are being asked to come forward to be part of the second lawsuit before Friday, Sept. 9.
“It is time for the City of Atlanta to put the Eagle matter to rest, but time and again the actions of the city show that city leaders just ‘do not get it.’ The Eagle raid victims should all be fairly compensated and reforms must be fully implemented,” said attorney Gerry Weber in a statement.
The Atlanta Police LGBT Advisory Board sent a letter to Mayor Kasim Reed and Police Chief George Turner on Aug. 25 asking for answers to questions raised at its Monday meeting and as follow up to the private meetings the citizen board had with the mayor and chief last month.
The Monday meeting held at Outwrite became quite heated at times as those attending wondered why the board agreed to meet in closed door sessions with the mayor and police chief to discuss, among other things, the fallout of the Eagle raid in 2009. Questions were also raised about the police department following the mandates secured in the city's $1.025 million settlement with the Eagle plaintiffs.
A community town hall meeting is set for Sept. 28 at St. Mark United Methodist Church, but the gay-led Congregation Bet Haverim is asking the date be moved to October because Sept. 28 falls on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
The letter reads from the Atlanta Police LGBT Advisory Board reads:
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the time for the town hall forum as from 7:15-8 p.m.
A town hall meeting with the LGBT communities, Mayor Kasim Reed and Atlanta Police Chief George Turner is set for Sept. 28 at Saint Mark United Methodist Church.
The town hall is open to the public and is scheduled from 7-8:15 p.m.
The date, however, falls on the evening of the start of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and also on the night of a special pre-event for Out on Film, Atlanta's LGBT film festival.
Philip Rafshoon is a member of the LGBT Police Advisory Board, which is organizing the town hall forum to discuss issues including how the city and police department continue to handle the fallout of the botched Atlanta Eagle raid. Rafshoon said he was disappointed with the date selected.
Mayor Kasim Reed told members of the Atlanta Police LGBT Advisory Board the city would conduct a “global review” of more officers involved in the controversial Eagle raid who were found to have tampered with evidence but still remain on the force.
The advisory board met today with the mayor, the city's Chief Operating Officer Peter Aman, the mayor's spokespersons Sonji Jacobs and Reese McCranie as well as the Atlanta Police Department's LGBT liaisons Officers Pat Powell and Brian Sharp.
The meeting between the board and the mayor came about after the advisory board held a town hall forum on July 13 and many of the board members as well as those in attendance said they did not believe enough harsh punishment was handed down by Chief George Turner. The board will meet with Turner on Friday.