"My roommate and I were there for the police raid at the Eagle on September 10, 2009. We had arrived about 20 minutes before the raid took place," Allan Vives said.

"Everyone was ordered to get on their stomachs and face down during this ordeal. As far as I could tell everyone was searched at least once, most of us twice. Most, but not all, of the officers were incredibly derogatory and insulting whether they found evidence of drugs or not," Vives said.

"When asking why, we were met with derisive remarks and no explanation. I am furious at how we were treated and can't believe that this has happened in this day and age. The officers present were incredibly rude to anyone who dared to ask what was happening and several were openly hostile towards the gay patrons. Of the officers present, there was one female who was running searches on the IDs of those whose licenses were collected. She was not only rude but seemed to be enjoying the event," Vives said.

A protest that drew several hundred was held this weekend, and police responded:

Officer Darlene Harris, APD's liaison to the gay community, said police raided the bar because of alleged criminal sexual activity. She says the quick, heavy-handed approach is the same officers would use going into any similar situation.

"When you're coming into a dark club, that's not well lit, and you have an unknown number of people inside the club, it is an officer safety concern as well."

Harris said police arrested eight bar employees.

"The individuals that were arrested were arrested for various charges, not just one. For operating a business without a license, for dancing without a permit. Those seem to be the two that have came in."

Of course the police were endangered. You know, you go into one of those gay nightclubs, and your officer is probably going to get felt up. It's great that they raided the bar like this, because if they were in the hands of those nasty homosexuals, who knows what would have happened to the defenseless police officers. The poor guys might have been forced to put another faggot in the hospital.

Although, if they did go to the bar just to investigate a "criminal sexual activity," why didn't they send in an undercover officer to see if it was going on and then leave, instead of sending in a small army? They didn't arrest anyone for turning trick in the bathroom or prostituting themselves, so they searched for anything to justify their raid:

But Atlanta Eagle co-owner Richard Ramey says the raid was reminiscent of 1960s police harassment of gays and lesbians.

"Once they searched everyone, found no weapons or drugs, they said Well, I guess we'll have to go to the IDs next.' So they brought a laptop to see if they had any warrants or unpaid traffic tickets. They were fishing, they were looking."

The protestors say they're going to take this to the city council and that they're thinking about filing suit. Good. Too often people just want to forget these cases and move on, thinking there's nothing good that can come of seeking justice, emboldening the police to do it all over again.