A gay Abu Ghraib

[Meldread]

Read the full story here: http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?date=2006/07/07/4

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A weekend raid by law enforcement officers of the gay Pride Gym in Albuquerque, N.M., that left patrons "bullied, terrorized and humiliated" has prompted the ACLU and other groups to inquire into possible civil rights violations there.

-snip-

"There were about 35 of us there, and most were older men, some in their 70s, eating tacos and chatting," Ronald said. "Most of us were fully dressed, because it's a legitimate gym with a sauna, but not a bathhouse."

"Suddenly, a SWAT team carrying semi-automatic weapons, plastic shields and late gloves burst through the door and told us to get on the ground. They kept saying, 'We're not here for you,' but still they handcuffed us and kept us on the ground until they could run background checks on all of us. This took about an hour."

-snip-

Ronald claimed that police officers led one man into a separate room and took pictures of him.

"The guy was wearing a leather harness and a jockstrap. A female officer with a digital camera took him into a room; we saw about 15 or 20 flashes coming from there and heard lots of laughter. They (the officers) were having a good old time. It was like the gay Abu Ghraib."

-snip-

After the raid, the fire marshal's office ordered the building closed, citing "numerous fire code violations."

Peter Simonson, executive director of the New Mexico ACLU, said his preliminary research shows the raid was "extremely aggressive and reckless."

"Our concern is the policy of cracking down on alcohol violations is giving police a pretext to target businesses they don't like," Simonson said. "There is a strong sense in the LGBT community that (law enforcement) was targeting gays and that it feels a little like a witch hunt."
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Bastards. They were obviously targeting the gym. Everyone involved in the "raid" should be arrested for terrorism - because that's what they did - committed an act of terror. Every last one of them are disgusting pigs, especially that bitch who took the pictures - she should be forced to pose nude and then have her naked body posted all over the internet for *US* to laugh at. Stupid bastards, I hope every last one of them suffers for this.

Read the full story here: http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?date=2006/07/07/4

[terrya]

1. Disgusting.

A SWAT team with automatic weapons??? To deal with possible alcohol violations??? That's shameful and inexcusible. Everyone involved in that raid should be suspended, at the very, very least. And I'm glad the ACLU is looking into that, but I'd suggest the poor guys who suffered because of this police brutality should seek legal representation for a civil lawsuit against the city of Albuquerque.

[Meldread]

2. I agree.

"The officers were serving a search warrant and the fire marshal was there to inspect the building," Olson said. "Any time there is a situation with a large number of people, officers will employ whatever tactics they need to maintain control of the situation."

The warrant, he said, arose from tips from locals that alcohol was being served at Pride Gym. "Any time agents find someone serving alcohol without a license, it causes concern because those proprietors are operating outside of the law." He said it's inaccurate to characterize Saturday night's event as a 'raid,' and maintained that officers were not out of bounds.

Regarding allegations of a female officer taking pictures of a patron and laughing, Olson had no comment."
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"Maintain control of the situation"? What the hell are a bunch of 70 year old men going to do? Since when are alcohol violations so dangerous that you need to call in the fucking SWAT team? This is just a bunch of bullshit.

Lemme guess how the conversation went:

"Hey Bob, we got a tip that a bunch of old men down at some gay gym are having tacos and maybe a beer."
"Did you say... beer? WITH tacos? Holy hell, man, call the SWAT team, it sounds dangerous!"

[closeupready]

4. I, also, agree.

eom

[JoshWatermanMN]

3. God, I am sick of this shit

It was only a matter of time before this kind of bullshit happened. We need to do something before this becomes a matter of course. With the conservatives in power, its gonna get worse before it gets better.

[readmoreoften]

5. So a gym owner had a few guests at his gym for a work-out party.

alcohol was served and the cops came in, put machine guns to their heads, and took naked photos of them?

Sounds like freedom to me. I feel freer already.

[foreigncorrespondent]

6. If the cops...

..are meant to be cracking down on alcohol violations why did they need a swat team fully decked out? Could it be they knew they were targeting a bunch of queers and had visions of Stonewall coming to haunt them?

Fucking weak slimmy bastards! Yeah everyone is big while standing behind semi automatics!

[JoshWatermanMN]

7. My post to AmericaBlog responses

Here is my post:

Hey everyone--here is an article you may be interested in seeing. The "gay Abu Ghraib":

http://www.planetout.com/news/ar...te=2006/07/07/ 4

So getting fed up with this shit from these jackasses. And with the conservatives in power and frothing at the mouth, its only going to get worse before it gets better.
JoshWatermanMN | 07.12.06 - 1:30 pm

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And this is the response I got:

JoshWatermanMN | 07.12.06 - 1:30 pm |
My friend, you are a fool. Everything you hear that you don't like is perpetrated by "these jackasses".Who are "these jackasses"? Everybody straight?
And besides,what would you do if a gym advertised as a straight club? Claim discrimination? I think "these jackasses" are YOU. I'd laugh,too upon seeing the guy in harness,etc.What's not to laugh? Don't be so prejudiced.
davboz | 07.12.06 - 4:13 pm | #

My response:

davboz | 07.12.06 - 4:13 pm | #

If this were a straight club, this sort of thing would not happen. A bunch of gun toting assholes decided to abuse their power to mock a group of people that are historically unpopular.
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I'd laugh,too upon seeing the guy in harness,etc.What's not to laugh?
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a)I would think throwing guys on the ground, laughing at them, and taking pictures is a clear abuse of power. You may not like it, the SWAT guys didn't like it, but no one is asking you to attend.

b) "What's not to laugh?" What sort of fucked up syntax is that?

c)Don't call me "friend."
JoshWatermanMN | 07.12.06 - 6:52 pm | #

[Duncan Grant]

8. A targeted abuse of power. Excessive to say the least.

I suspect that law enforcement had other motives than the alcohol violation. Excuse my cynicism but is there a mayoral election or district attorney/prosecutor race going on in Albuquerque?

As to the unjust treatment at the hands of law enforcement, it's an outrage! Keep in mind, we're not alone in this regard -- men of color are also insulted, humiliated and abused. Thankfully, the ACLU is devoting resources to this incident.

I hope the men at the gym have an opportunity to process the trauma. I can't imagine that they have any sense of safety or security right now. They deserve better from law enforcement. We all do.

[cboy4]

9. "LATE GLOVES?" Does that mean "LATEX GLOVES?" Those m-fuckers

were wearing latex gloves because they were afraid of getting AIDS from all the faggots there, weren't they??????

The people in Albuquerque should be frightened that if the SWAT Team is needed to investigate an alcohol violation...

The cops are most certainly highly unqualified to deal with a real emergency.

Who sends a SWAT team to a gym? Please!!!!!