looking into it

Another Rainbow Lounge Investigation? This Time It’s For a TABC Agent

fortworthbarraid

We’ve lost count, really, about how many investigations various parties have launched into the Stonewall-style raid of Ft. Worth’s Rainbow Lounge bar in June. So why not throw a new one in the mix?

The latest investigation is from the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission, which agreed to look into a complaint filed by Christopher Aller, one of the two TABC agents who took part in the raid. The details of his complaint aren’t known, but as the Star-Telegram notes, it comes just a week after TABC admitted to reporters that it violated its own policies.

Sounds like a certain agent is trying to avoid becoming a scapegoat!

UPDATE: Aller and two other agents (Terry Parsons and trainee Jason Chapman) were fired today, specifically for their involvement in the Rainbow Lounge raid. And a slap on the wrist for their now-ex boss, Fort Worth District Lt. Gene Anderson, who, according to the agency’s statement, “will receive three days suspension without pay and six months probation for inadequate monitoring of the training of new agents and inadequate supervisory oversight of his employees and their activities.” Captain Robert “Charlie” Cloud “received a written reprimand for failure to follow the incident notification policy, inadequate monitoring of the training of new agents and inadequate supervisory oversight of the Fort Worth employees and their activities..”

But what about future incidents like the Stonewall-style raid? How will those be prevented?

TABC currently requires all employees to attend cultural diversity training, and the agency curriculum includes both sexual orientation and gender identity. However, TABC plans to increase the effectiveness of this training by collaborating with community groups to conduct additional cross-cultural education. Chief Moreno said, “I believe that improving relationships with community groups will create on-going support in both directions – to better meet community needs as well as state regulatory needs.” The regional training coordinators will work with the headquarters training liaison to create new opportunities to combine and enhance outreach, education and dialogue at the regional level.

Color us impressed. But it’s always interesting to see the underlings fired, while management keeps their jobs.

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