Chad Gibson has been released from the hospital but still is in danger from a blood clot on his brain that reportedly could break loose and kill him.
Gibson allegedly was beat up by cops during a June 28 raid of the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth, Tex. Witnesses say officers slammed his head into a wall, then into the floor. Two other patrons also were injured in the raid -- one has broken ribs and one has a broken thumb.
June 28 was the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that kickstarted the modern gay-rights movement.
The violent raid -- purported to be merely one of the state's routine checks of bars to be sure no one is too drunk -- brought heavy condemnation from gay leaders, newspaper columnists, bloggers, politicians and others. It also received extensive national news coverage.
Both the Fort Worth Police Department and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which joined in the raid, have launched internal investigations of the incident. The results of the city police's investigation will be reviewed by federal authorities, Mayor Mike Moncrief has promised.
Apart from the raid itself, the most controversial aspect of the incident has been Police Chief Jeff Halstead's assertions that Gibson groped one of the officers and that other patrons made what the Police Department called "sexually explicit movements" toward uniformed officers -- claims that bar patrons and gay leaders have called preposterous and "lies."
"You're touched and advanced in certain ways by people inside the bar, that's offensive," Halstead said shortly after the raid. "I'm happy with the restraint used when they were contacted like that."
After facing ridicule for those improbable assertions, Halstead has since adopted a more conciliatory tone, telling gay people at a public meeting: "We've got to work together. Be patient, and you will see that this is just not lip service. I will meet with you wherever you want to meet. I will go to your restaurants, your house, we can eat barbecue, whatever you want to do. But we've got to talk."
Gibson, for his part, wants the raiding officers to be prosecuted and the city to halt its "cover-up."
"You used excessive force and that's why I got hurt," Gibson told WFAA-TV. "They have blamed it on me, that I was drunk, ( that ) I fell and hit my head, I groped the officer, I did this, I did that. You know what? No. Accept responsibility."
In an interview with KTVT, Gibson added: "I was rubbed into the concrete. ... I'm just appalled that they took it to the level that they did. ... They need to accept responsibility for what they did."
