Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed responded late Friday with a statement addressing what he said were false accusations by Eagle attorney Dan Grossman in the GA Voice article, "More lawsuits filed against city of Atlanta for raid on gay bar."
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.
Nine men who were in the Atlanta Eagle the night it was raided by police two years ago this weekend are suing Mayor Kasim Reed and 25 police officers in Fulton Superior Court. The lawsuit was filed late Thursday, before the two year statute of limitations expired.
The lawsuit alleges many of the same offenses in the original lawsuit filed in November 2009, shortly after the raid occurred on Sept. 10, 2009. Represented by attorneys Dan Grossman and Gerry Weber, the plaintiffs in the second lawsuit accuse the officers named in the lawsuit for violating their the Fourth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution protecting people from illegal search and seizures.
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.
A heated meeting of the Atlanta Police LGBT Advisory Board on Monday night included shouting, accusations of the board being “puppets” of the mayor and palpable anger with the board and city administration for not doing more to heal the pain in the community after the unconstitutional raid on the Atlanta Eagle nearly two years ago.
Geoff Calhoun (pictured, inset), was in the gay Midtown bar the night it was raided on Sept. 10, 2009, and was a plaintiff in the successful federal civil lawsuit against the city. Calhoun got into a shouting match with board member Ebonee Bradford-Barnes at the two-hour meeting held at Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse after he accused the board of becoming “puppets” of the mayor. Calhoun's statements came after much discussion about why the media was not allowed into the meetings the board had with Mayor Kasim Reed and Police Chief George Turner last month.
“I wonder if you could explain the rationale of the majority of the board denying the media into the meeting with the mayor. I'm trying to understand … is it because you thought you wouldn't be honest, the mayor wouldn't be honest?” Calhoun said.
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.