Atlanta Eagle Raided

Police raided the Atlanta Eagle bar on Sept. 10 and arrested eight employees and underwear-clad dancers for allegedly providing adult entertainment without having the proper permit.

The police also forced some 60 people facedown on the floor and kept them there while they were searched and their IDs were checked.

“For up to two hours, some customers lay face down in grime and spilled beer waiting their turns,” said The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

Patrons and employees said some officers were aggressive, threatened them with violence and made anti-gay slurs during the ordeal, according to the gay newspaper Southern Voice. One individual, who filed a complaint over the raid with the Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards, said he heard one police officer say, “This is more fun than raiding niggers with crack.”

Another individual who filed an OPS complaint said he heard officers say, “I hate homosexuals” and “I don’t like fags.”


“There were several officers standing over me that started joking about this is a lot of fun, we ought to come back and do this every week,” the complainant said.

Nine OPS complaints were filed.

Police said the raid was a response to alleged drug sales and backroom sex at the bar. The department said undercover officers had observed backroom sex on previous visits to the bar.

However, no one was arrested on drug or sex charges during the earlier visits or the raid.

On Sept. 14, Police Chief Richard Pennington seemingly apologized for the raid or some aspect of it.

“It’s very unfortunate this incident occurred,” he said. “We are going to investigate and get to the bottom of it. I have a great relationship with the community. I’m sorry for what happened but I want to get to the bottom of this.”

By Rex Wockner

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