[NOTE: It has just been announced that Officer Harris has decided to march in the Pride Parade in her civilian clothes.]
To the Atlanta Pride Committee:
As a person who was held on the floor of the Atlanta Eagle, I would like to request that Officer Harris walk in the Pride Parade in her street clothes and not her Atlanta Police uniform. After coming out and saying that APD did nothing wrong, I feel this would be an injustice to our community. As a person taken to jail I find this offensive. Most of you do not know the true horror that we went through that night and that uniform represents all of it.
To see gay men kicked, hit, and searched with no reason is wrong, and to be made to lay face-down in the floor, and have the officers hi-five each other like it’s a party is wrong. To have them say “this was fun we should do this to a fag bar every week” is wrong. And having Officer Harris in her uniform saying that it’s OK is wrong.
If Officer Harris chooses not to be there because of it, so be it, but that will be something she chooses to do. After being released from jail she was one of the first persons we a saw. She apologized for their actions and then got up and told everyone it was OK. Please.
Robby
Atlanta Eagle co-owner Robert Kelley at a protest rally, holding a sign which asks "Where was the Warrant?"
