Man Injured in Gay Bar Raid: Cops Should be Prosecuted
Chad Gibson says he doesn't remember the incident, but believes he was the victim of police brutality
By SCOTT GORDON
Updated 7:04 PM CST, Sun, Jul 5, 2009
The man whose skull was fractured in the controversial police raid on a Fort Worth gay bar is calling for the prosecution of the officers involved.
Chad Gibson, 26, of Euless, was released from the hospital Saturday. In his first public comments, Gibson said he has no memory of his arrest but believes he was the victim of police brutality.
"I remember I was at the bar buying drinks for all my friends,” he said. “The next thing I remember, I woke up in ICU, giving them my mom's telephone number."
Gibson received a hairline skull fracture and had internal bleeding.
"Three or four days ago, they were talking about drilling a hole in my head," he said in an interview in his home. "It was the worst news I had gotten in my entire life. Luckily, they decided they didn't need to."
Police have said Gibson was extremely intoxicated and resisted arrest and may have received his head injury when he fell on his own.
Gibson, a computer technician, admits he was drunk.
"I was drunk,” he said. “I was at a bar. I had been drinking. I was drunk."
But he strongly denies groping an officer, as police claim.
"First of all, I don't do that," Gibson said. "Second of all, I didn't have a chance to do it."
He also said he did not fight back or resist arrest based on what his friends later told him.
"It really makes me mad they (police) would say that, because I know that's not me," Gibson said. "And all my friends said, ‘No, you were thrown against the wall. They asked you to put your hands behind your back. You put your hands behind your back. You looked scared.’"
Gibson said doctors have told him he faces months of medical complications.
"I still have a lot of pain in this area," he said, pointing to his right temple. "It's kind of like a severe headache. They actually told me I could have them for the next couple years."
Gibson said he is talking to attorneys but hasn’t yet decided whether to file a lawsuit.
"It's not very good what happened," he said. "It's unfortunate what happened to me, and I hope it doesn't happen to anybody else."
Several Fort Worth officers and one Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent slammed Gibson against the wall and then to the floor, said Matt Meador, Gibson's friend.
Meador said he was holding Gibson's hand walking to the bathroom when officers confronted Gibson for no apparent reason. He said he also saw at least one TABC agent sitting on Gibson outside and pushing his face into the pavement.
Meador, who was perhaps the closest witness to the initial skirmish, said he has not yet been interviewed by police or the TABC, which are conducting separate internal investigations.
In his first public comments on the incident, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief on Friday asked the U.S. Justice Department to review the results of the city's probe. Moncrief's statement came in an e-mail from an aide, and he was not available for questions.
Also last week, Fort Worth police chief Jeff Halstead suspended all joint operations with the TABC after the state agency acknowledged Gibson had been in its custody and had placed the two agents involved on desk duty.
The raid has drawn national attention, including a report Sunday in The New York Times.
Gibson said he’s never been in trouble before and that the incident has changed his view of police.
"I don't trust them like I used to," he said. "I mean, they put me in the hospital."
First Published: Jul 5, 2009 4:13 PM CST
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