Steen said he doesn’t think there was sufficient cause for the inspection, which apparently was based on the fact that one person had been arrested for public intoxication at the Rainbow Lounge on Thursday, June 25. Steen also indicated that the eight law enforcement officers and the paddy wagon that were present likely constituted an excessive show of force.Now, to all those folks who have bad-mouthed the activists protesting this unjust raid, and the people whose knee-jerk reaction is to defend the police and TABC, what do you have to say now?
“You can read that policy and you can figure out really quickly, TABC shouldn’t have even been there,” Steen said. “If our guys would have followed the damn policy, we wouldn’t even have been there. … We have these conversations all the time, and we don’t participate in those kinds of inspections when there’s not probable cause or reasonable suspicion or some public safety matter to be inspected.”
Steen added that the agents also shouldn’t have been wearing “special events uniforms,” which are prohibited during bar inspections. TABC agents typically conduct bar inspections in plain clothes.
Friday, July 17, 2009
TABC Admits Wrong Doing In Rainbow Lounge Raid
This just in from a Dallas Voice article. The chief of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Alan Steen, has issued a formal apology and more.
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1 comment:
While the TABC has admitted wrongdoing, the Fort Worth Police Department has completely denied any wrongdoing, evening going so far as to enhance the statements made by the arresting police officers.
richard h.
fort worth, texas, usa
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