Injured Rainbow Lounge patron remains in peril

Chad Gibson, the 26-year-old Fort Worth resident who wound up in John Peter Smith Hospital in the intensive care unit after a law enforcement raid on a gay bar over the weekend, remains in danger with a blood clot on his brain.

Dallas Voice senior editor Tammye Nash reports on the newspaper's blog, Instant Tea, that Gibson's sister, Kristy Morgan, told her a CAT scan had revealed the blood clot has quit growing, but it is still considered a life-threatening situation. Until the clot dissolves, there is a danger that the clot could break off and cause severe brain damage or death. A rupture of the clot could also start bleeding again.

The blood clot could take from six months to two years to dissolve, according to the update. Gibson, shown in a picture from facebook.com, will likely remain in the hospital for the rest of the week and will be referred to a neurosurgeon for follow-up treatment. Surgery is reportedly not being considered at this time.

Discussion is under way about the establishment of a medical fund to assist Gibson. His hospital bill will undoubtedly be enormous, and it is unlikely that he will ever recover any of those medical expenses from the City of Fort Worth. Police officers and other government employees are protected by state law from liability in any legal action that arises in connection with the performance of their official duties, unless they are involved in misconduct or broke laws.

Fort Worth police chief Jeffrey Halstead has promised an internal affairs investigation will be conducted, but the official police reports now claim that law enforcement officers accompanied by Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission officials were merely making a routine inspection. The officers claimed that the seven people they arrested at the Rainbow Lounge were belligerent and intoxicated. They also claimed that several of the patrons threatened them in a sexually suggestive manner. One officer claimed that Gibson groped him.

Two members of the Fort Worth City Council, including openly gay Councilman Joel Burns, have demanded an investigation into the incident.

Rainbow Lounge management and several bar patrons dispute the officers' accounts of what happened in the nightclub. They claim the officers stormed the bar and randomly targeted patrons for arrest.

Gibson reportedly was slammed against a wall and thrown to the floor by officers. His friends who witnessed the arrest said that Gibson is a person of small stature, weighing at most about 160 pounds.

The officers reportedly arrived at the bar with a paddy wagon and plastic handcuffs on display when they entered the one-week-old club.

The raid occurred on the 40th anniversary of New York City's Stonewall Riots in 1969 and the birth of the U.S. gay rights movement, but officers denied knowledge of the significance of the date.

Read Nash's full update on Gibson's condition at: http://www.dallasvoice.com/instant-tea/2009/06/30/update-on-chad-gibson/