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.
The owners of the Atlanta Eagle said Wednesday they are pleased with Mayor Kasim Reed's apology to the plaintiffs who sued the city in the wake of the controversial raid by the Atlanta Police Department on the gay bar last year.
"For the mayor to say the things he said really makes me feel, on an individual basis, makes me feel very good. The mayor's [apology] was icing on the cake," said Richard Ramey, co-owner of the gay bar, in an interview with the GA Voice.
Ramey and Robby Kelley also stressed the lawsuit filed against the city was never simply a "gay case."
"If the city really goes forward with the changes [made as part of the settlement agreement] it will be good for every citizen," Ramey said while seated in his bar with Kelley.
Patrons of the Atlanta Eagle who were searched and detained when police raided the gay bar last September finally got their longed-for apology late Wednesday, when Mayor Kasim Reed held a press conference to speak out on a settlement agreement reached between the city and plaintiffs in a federal civil rights lawsuit over the raid.
"I believe that what occurred that evening should not have happened and should not happen again," Reed said. "As mayor of the city of Atlanta, I feel pain for anyone mistreated in our city and apologize to each plaintiff in the Calhoun case."
Dan Grossman, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, has long said that the lawsuit, which will cost the city some $1.025 million in payments, could have been avoided if the city apologized to the plaintiffs and agreed to change police policies.
The lead attorney and plaintiffs who sued the city of Atlanta over the botched 2009 raid of the Atlanta Eagle, a gay bar, praised the settlement agreement signed by a federal judge today. But they continued to stress that their lawsuit should not have been necessary to force Atlanta police to change unconstitutional policies.
"This is a wonderful change for the city of Atlanta — to get the Atlanta Police Department to follow the law," lead attorney Dan Grossman said in an interview this afternoon. "It's really a shame it took a lawsuit to make the APD follow the law."
Richard Ramey, co-owner of the Atlanta Eagle, echoed Grossman's sentiments.
"I feel vindicated and relieved. I feel that everyone in the city, from the mayor to the city council, realized something went wrong," he said.
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.
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.
A blog by Creative Loafing claims rumors are flying that the Atlanta Eagle is expected to close by the end of the year, but that is not true at this time, says Richard Ramey, co-owner of the gay bar on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
The blog post by Cliff Bostock was titled "News that sucks" and talks about the Eagle laying off bartender Chris Lopez.
“I'm sorry to report that one of the city's best bartenders, Chris Lopez, was laid off recently by the Atlanta Eagle after seven years. It's not altogether surprising. Rumors have been flying that the bar will close before the end of the year," writes Bostock.