This cell-phone photo of last night’s raid at Rainbow Room was sent to Dallas Voice’s Instant Tea blog by Chuck Potter. It appears to show a police officer restraining a man who has been force face-down onto the floor

As word spread about a police raid on a gay club last night in Fort Worth, anger also mounted.

Protesters marched this evening to from the Rainbow Lounge, where several patrons were arrested last night, to the local courthouse where a protest rally is planned.  

Fort Worth police released a statement Sunday confirming the raid, Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Update: The full statement from Fort Worth Police is available here from KDAF TV.

Police claim that seven people were arrested at the Rainbow Room, but several eyewitnesses who have sent emails to Dallas Voice’s Instant Tea blog throughout the day have said they saw at least a dozen people detained by police.

Protesters at the country courthouse called for an ivestigation into the Rainbow Room raid Photos by Angelo Peña from Rainbow Room Facebook group

The police statement says that Rainbow Lounge was one of three bars targeted by six Fort Worth police officers and two agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and a supervisor.

A spokeswoman for Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) confirmed to Dallas Observer’s  Unfair Park blog that, yes, “there were TABC agents there, but other than that I don't know anything.” She said a captain “is pulling together more information.”

Fort Worth Council member Joel Burns released a statement Sunday evening calling for a thorough investigation of the raid and of charges that officers used excessive force.

“It is unfortunate that this incident occurred in Fort Worth and even more so to have occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall protests,” Burns writes. “Unlike 40 years ago, though, the people of this community have elective representation that will make sure our government is accountable and that the rights of all of its citizens are protected.”

Meanwhile, a Dallas church also calls on Fort Worth’s police chief to immediately open an investigation and to apologize quickly for the raid.

“In a scene eerily reminiscent of the raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City's Greenwich Village 40 years ago, the police reportedly entered the bar unprovoked, harassing, and arresting patrons without reason,” the Dallas-based Cathedral of Hope said in a statement.

Fort Worth police claim to have made seven arrests during Stonewall-day raid on gay bar [contd.]

The statement says, “Alcohol beverage code inspections are conducted frequently at establishments located within the city limits of Fort Worth. These are conducted in order to ensure a safe environment for all.”

It adds that “[a] thorough internal investigation into the allegations made is being conducted as all allegations against officers are investigated.”

Rumors have swirled throughout the day that at least one man was seriously injured during the raid. Some eyewitnesses claim that one of those arrested fractured his skull during a takedown and is at a Fort Worth hospital, but so far there is no firm confirmation of the injury.

The police statement does say, however, that one patron of the bar was released to paramedics because of his “extreme intoxication” and says he was repeatedly vomiting. It alleges that the main “assaulted” a TABC agent inside the lounge by grabbing the agent’s groin. It claims that he was “escorted” outside and arrested for “public intoxication” before being released to paramedics.

Dallas Voice’s blog, which broke the story this morning, has more first-person accounts now online.

Rainbow Lounge dancer Shane Wells says he saw police arrest a man who was drinking water for “public intoxication”

First person accounts have also been posted to a Facebook group created by QCinema founder and former Star-Tribune movie Critic Todd Camp, who sent one of the first accounts of the raid to Dallas Voice.

One of the accounts on the Facebook group is offered by Shane Wells who had been hired by the lounge to perform in one of its dance cages.

Wells says:

I was dancing on a box in the VIP lounge and was looking right at the first guy who was arrested. The male patron was standing at the bar doing nothing but having a having a drink and a fun time (like people do in bars) when an officer entered that section of the club and made a beeline straight towards him. The officer forcefully spun the man around, shoved him against the bar and placed plastic restraints on his wrists. The officer then marched the man out the club. The guy was stunned and obviously really scared.

He said he returned to the dressing room when he “noticed another officer in the VIP section and several other officers filtering into the club.”

About 75 to 100 people were at the Rainbow Lounge this afternoon, making signs for the courthouse rally, Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Some of the signs read: “Give us Answers Now” and “We Have Rights Too.”

In their statement police claim that while “walking” through the Rainbow Lounge, an “extremely intoxicated patron” made “sexually explicit movements” toward a police supervisor. This statement says the man was arrested for public intoxication, according to the Star-Telegram.

Wells claims that the officers appeared to have a low standard for what they called “public intoxication”:

I was still standing near the entrance to the VIP lounge with a friend when an officer approached a man standing there. The man had water in his hand. The officer asked him how much he had had to drink and the man said that he didn't have to answer that. The officer then said that he was going to arrest him for public intoxication. The man said,"You can't do that I am just standing here right now drinking water." At the time the officer shoved the man over towards the wall near the dressing room and then back to the rear wall near the men's restroom, then down onto the floor.

Source: Upset Fort Worth residents to protest raid on gay night club | Fort Worth | Star-Telegram.com