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[Updated] Atlanta City Council settles third Eagle lawsuit for $330,000

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The Atlanta city council unanimously voted today to approve settling the third lawsuit stemming from the botched police raid on gay bar the Atlanta Eagle. The total of the settlement is $330,000.

Eagle attorney Dan Grossman told the GA Voice he was happy with the proposed settlement because his clients, whose constitutional rights were allegedly violated, "have now gotten justice."

As part of the settlement, Grossman also requested the Atlanta Police Department be mandated the police chief fire officers who destroy evidence in a civil case.

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[Updated] Fight at Blake’s results in arrests

A fight at popular Midtown gay bar Blake's on the Park Friday night resulted in two arrests after an off-duty police officer was assaulted by a patron, according to police.

A preliminary police report released today by APD spokesperson Carlos Campos states:

Sometime Friday evening (or possibly early morning hours on Saturday), two males were asked by the manager to leave the establishment (Blake's). They refused. The manager called for the off-duty officer working at Blake's, who advised one of the individuals they would have to leave. One of the males refused and threw his drink in the officer's face and then punched him in the face.

"At some point, a call for assistance went out over the radio and several Zone 5 officers and a supervisor arrived on scene. One of the individuals damaged a third person's vehicle in the parking lot and was charged with Criminal Damage to Property. The first individual that punched the off-duty officer was charged initially with Felony Obstruction. Our LGBT Liaison officers have been notified of the incident.

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Federal judge rules Atlanta Eagle lawsuit to be tried in Fulton Superior Court

An Atlanta Eagle lawsuit against the city will be tried in Fulton County Superior Court after a federal judge ruled against the city of Atlanta's motion to move the case to federal court.

First reported by Jim Burress at WABE, Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Vining Jr. ruled that the city's amended motion to remand the case to federal court was an "untimely attempt to cure a procedural defect" and "concludes that the original notice of removal was deficient."

Vining also said the city's "tortured interpretation" of the motion to remand to federal court would render a statute involving procedure for removal was "meaningless, which this court is unwilling to do."

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NPR’s StoryCorps wants to record stories of Atlanta Eagle raid

StoryCorp, one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, is seeking those involved in the raid on the Atlanta Eagle to share their stories.

WABE 90.1 FM reporter Jim Burress posted to Facebook a message asking people interested in sharing their stories of the raid and the fallout to have them preserved in the Library of Congress. WABE is the local NPR affiliate.

"It doesn’t have to be just about what happened that night — it can be about how the night changed you, what the legal victory means to you, what role the raid will play in Atlanta’s LGBT history, etc.," Burress writes in a post on the Eagle Atlanta Raid Facebook page. 
If interested, send an email to jburress@wabe.org or call 678-686-0374.

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Second fired Eagle raid officer denied getting job back

Fired Eagle raid officer will not get his job back

A former Atlanta Police Red Dog officer who was a supervisor during the unconstitutional 2009 raid on the Atlanta Eagle was denied getting his job back by the city's Civil Service Board, reports WABE.

Sgt. Willie Adams, a nearly 20-year veteran on the force before he was fired for "lack of truthfulness," said in his Oct. 20 hearing before the Civil Service Board he believed there was a search warrant for the raid. There was not.

He was fired for saying he did not witness patrons of the bar being patted down, that he participated as a supervisor in detaining the patrons, which went against APD standard operating procedures, and that he lied when he said he told officers to allow the patrons to sit up rather than remain lying down on the bar's floor, said Amber Robinson, city senior assistant attorney, during the Oct. 20 hearing.