In fact, there is no reason to ‘investigate” a fully-dressed person for either of these offenses, and it would seem the police were really just punishing the patrons for being at the Eagle in the first place, or conducting an illegal search for drugs. The actions of the police were not motivated by any real concern about unlicensed dancing or lewd conduct: Forcing fully-dressed patrons to lay face-down on the ground, searching their pockets, putting their names into a police computer, and keeping them on the floor long after they had been searched is not logically related to any legitimate investigation of lewd conduct or unlicensed underwear dancing.
The Supreme Court has made it clear that police may not search or seize an individual simply because he is in a public place where others may be breaking the law, and Americans have the right to go to a legal public place without fear of being searched or seized by the police as long as they themselves obey the law. The warrantless search and seizure of everyone present at the Atlanta Eagle was simply illegal: Police officers may not search, seize, or arrest an individual unless they have reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that particular individual is personally involved in criminal activity. (The bar’s four dancers were charged with “dancing in underwear” without a permit, and four employees were charged with operating an adult entertainment establishment without a license.) No drugs were found on anyone at the bar, and no-one was charged with public sex, indecent exposure, lewd conduct, or any other crime. At the end of the raid, the only charges filed by the police were against the four dancers and four bar employees, and related to the “unlicensed adult entertainment” that the officers originally raided the bar to investigate. When the patrons were eventually released, not a single patron was charged with breaking any law. When I asked if I could move away from the broken glass, I was told, ‘ Shut the fuck up or you’ll be handcuffed.’ The police were laughing and joking while we were lying there and at different times, I heard them say, ‘You people make me sick’ and ‘I hate fags.’ One of them said, ‘This is fun we should do this every week.’” One of the patrons (whose father was a police officer), described the scene to a reporter: “Nothing was ever explained to us by the officers. (click to enlarge)Īccording to the patrons (a group which included several elderly men), police officers shoved people to the ground, threatened to hit them in the head with barstools, handcuffed people, made racist and anti-gay comments, and forced patrons to remain flat on the ground, with their faces against a floor covered in some areas with spilled beer and broken glass, even long after they had been searched and found to be unarmed. Since it’s opening, the Atlanta Eagle has been Atlanta’s premiere Leather/Levi bar.Excerpt from Police Report. They know who they are, so say “Hello” – you won’t know where you will end up unless you try. Unknown is the hot dance floor, the men, the urgency of the moment, the men, being able to talk to someone and did I mention the men? Most of us have been burned out by the stand & model bars, always good to know of places like the Eagle where the men aren’t trying to impress everyone. Those who have never walked in the doors have no idea what it is really like. The Eagle opened the doors over 28 years ago and as the city around it, the changes are too many to list.
They purchased the bar and returned it to its old glory. They did their best, but The Eagle was nearing an end. After the first owner lost his battle to a foe that has taken too many, his family took over.
Then it was reopened as the Atlanta Eagle. So with black paint cans in hand, it closed. 1987 the doors opened at 306 Ponce de Leon, Renegade’s Bar and Grille. The place was closed and a new location was found. The neighborhood had changed from gay biker bars to frat boy hang outs.
The Eagle’s history began like so many others, in 1985 the writing was on the walls for the Texas Drilling Company.