Ricin Threat In Seattle
Bartender Chris Daw had plenty of patrons to serve early Saturday at the CC Attle tavern, despite the ricin threats that it and 10 other Seattle gay bars recently received. The threats -- letters warning that patrons would be poisoned -- appear to be part of the reason business was brisk. People have flocked to the 11 bars in solidarity since the letters arrived in the mail last week, Daw and others said. On Friday night, hundreds of locals participated in an organized pub crawl designed to support the establishments "People are like, 'Come on out. If you don't drink, a terrorist wins,' " Daw said.
Last week Just One Hot Minute reported about the letters that Seattle gay bars and a local gay newspaper got in the mail. Click Here to view the letter and the breaking 411 of this story.
Police say they're investigating the letters, which the bars -- located in Seattle's Capitol Hill district -- received Tuesday.
"I have in my possession approximately 67 grams of ricin with which I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients. ... I expect them to die painfully while in the hospital," the letters read.
Ricin is a poison that occurs naturally in castor beans and can be fatal if ingested or inhaled. The bars and their patrons have been on guard. The day after CC Attle received the threat, it posted on its bar a sign reading, "Do not leave drinks unattended." People in the area initially were scared after hearing about the threats, but they soon became defiant, said community activist Alison Luying, who helped organize Friday night's pub crawl. We are not going to be terrorized," Luying said.
Investigators have no evidence that whoever mailed the letters has the ability to make good on the threats, Seattle police said. Still, the investigation is proceeding on the assumption that the danger could be real, they said. The state crime lab is examining the letters for any evidence that could lead to a suspect, a Seattle Police Department spokesman said. Investigators are checking tips from the public and are working closely with the FBI and federal postal inspectors, according to police. The Capitol Hill neighborhood has long been known as a center of arts and music venues, and the community was in celebration mode during Friday night's crawl.
The Seattle Eagle, one of the 11 threatened bars, was packed. The ricin threat was topic No. 1 among customers.
"I think you have to take it seriously," said Tony Buff, one of the locals who joined the pub crawl. "And I think the bars here have done so. They've been very responsible."
In addition to the signs warning patrons to guard their drinks, everyone is watching out for anything that seems out of place, bar employees like Tim Wagner said. "We have proven that we will not succumb to terrorism, threats, hatred or fear," Wagner said. The threats apparently failed to have their desired effect, according to Wagner.
"People are coming out in droves to show their support to the gay businesses, and the bars that have been targeted. Business has actually been doing really well," Wagner said.
An Atlanta judge found three defendants in the Atlanta Eagle gay bar case not guilty Thursday, and the prosecutor agreed to dismiss the charges against the other five defendants.
Municipal Judge Crystal Gaines said city police failed to produce evidence proving that men danced naked without permits or that the bar operators were running an unlicensed adult establishment.
The decision comes as defendants and others involved with the Ponce de Leon Avenue bar are countering with a lawsuit in federal court against the city and Atlanta police officers.
"We always thought from the beginning that we were charged for no reason," bar co-owner Richard Ramey, who was not a defendant, said after the decision. "They had no right to be there," he said of the police.
The case stems from a raid on Sept. 10, when a swarm of officers detained and searched about five dozen Eagle customers, making some lie handcuffed and face down on the club's floor. Some customers said they were not allowed to move for an hour and that they endured anti-gay slurs from the officers.
When Thursday's court hearing began, eight people -- dancers, bar employees and another bar co-owner -- stood as defendants.
According to police records, police raided the club because of reports of drug activity and because undercover officers reported seeing men having sex at the club while customers looked on. But the raid produced no charges of drug use or illicit sex.
The employees were instead charged with business license violations, while the dancers were accused of providing adult entertainment without a license. Each violation carries a maximum punishment of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The lead investigator, Det. Bennie E. Bridges, and one other officer testified for the prosecution.
Bridges said that he heard no slurs and that he saw one of the defendants dancing atop the bar "in bikini underwear."
"He was pulling down the front of his underwear and exposing himself," Bridges said. "Men would reach up and put money into the waistband."
But Bridges could not identify all eight defendants, prompting defense attorney Alan Begner to push for dismissals.
One by one, senior assistant solicitor Larry Gardner agreed to the dismissals, until only three defendants remained: co-owner Robert Kelley and dancers Leandro Apud and Tadareius Johnson.
Gardner said dancers clad only in underwear had exposed their genitals and taken tips "the same way money would be accepted in any other nude bar."
The two sides argued over whether the Eagle was an adult entertainment business. Gardner said it was and that it was operating without a permit. Begner said it wasn't and that his clients should not have been charged under that ordinance.
Begner produced eight witnesses who contradicted the police. Three dancers denied exposing themselves, and the five other defense witnesses, a mix of bar employees and patrons, said they saw no nude dancing at the bar that night.
Judge Gaines said the city had to overcome "all these witnesses" and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that nude dancing happened.
"I don't believe that the city has met that burden," she said.
The case caused a stir in Atlanta and became a factor in the recent mayoral election. The federal court case is sure to stir up more sentiments.
The Atlanta City Council, meanwhile, has agreed to subpoena 18 officers to answer questions about the raid from the Citizen Review Board. So far, only one officer has complied.
STORY - ATLANTA CONSTITUTION
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More than 100 people braved the rains Saturday afternoon to gather at Atlanta City Hall at the second rally to protest the police raid of the Atlanta Eagle last week, outraged by the alleged harassment of the patrons in the bar as well as the eight men arrested. A first rally was held Sept. 13 in the parking lot of the Eagle. With a makeshift cover of a large tarp for speakers to stand under as the rain poured down for nearly an hour, citizens demanded answers from the police department, elected officials as well as Mayor Shirley Franklin, who has remained silent on the issue since the raid of the gay leather bar occurred Sept. 10.
