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The Stonewall riots were not the first attempt to push for equal treatment of the LGBT community, but it became an important rallying cry that fueled the gay-rights movement and is now commemorated every year during LGBT Pride Month. Historian David Carter detailed the events of the raid in his book Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution. Around 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 28 1969, eight officers — four in plainclothes, two in uniform, a detective and a deputy inspector — arrived at the establishment and shouted, “Police! We’re taking the place!” Typically, LGBT bars and other places were warned ahead of time of raids, but that didn’t happen this time. Carter wrote that the Mafia owners of the Stonewall and the manager were blackmailing wealthier customers, particularly those who worked in the Financial District. They appeared to be making more money from extortion than they were from liquor sales in the bar. Carter deduces that when the police were unable to receive kickbacks from blackmail and the theft of negotiable bonds they decided to close the Stonewall Inn permanently. Two undercover policewomen and two undercover policemen entered the bar earlier that evening to gather visual evidence, as the Public Morals Squad waited outside for the signal. Once inside, they
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called for backup from the Sixth Precinct using the bar’s pay telephone. The music was turned off and the main lights were turned on. Approximately 205 people were in the bar that night. Patrons who had never experienced a police raid were confused. A few who realized what was happening began to run for doors and
Issue 301 | JUNE 20, 2019
windows in the bathrooms, but police barred the doors. The raid did not go as planned. Standard procedure was to line up the patrons, check their identification, and have female police officers take customers dressed as women to the bathroom to verify their sex, upon which any men dressed as women would be arrested. Those dressed as women that night refused to go with the officers. Men in line began to refuse to produce their identification. The police decided to take everyone present to the police station, after separating those cross-dressing in a room in the back of the bar. The crowd outside started to swell and police feared they were losing control. A scuffle broke out when a woman, described as a “butch lesbian” and possibly identified as Stormé DeLarverie, in handcuffs was escorted from the door of the bar to the waiting police wagon, but she repeatedly escaped and fought with four of the police, swearing and shouting, She had been hit on the head by an officer with a baton for complaining that her handcuffs were too tight. She sparked the crowd to fight, yelling, “Why don’t you guys do something?” After an officer picked her up and heaved her into the back of the wagon, the crowd became a mob and went “berserk,” Carter wrote. “It
NYPD apologizes for ’69 Stonewall raid In a historic first, the New York Police Department apologized for the 1969 raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Historians largely consider this event to be the dawn of the modern LGBTI rights movement. NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill spoke at a press conference on June 6, describing the actions of officers during the early hours of June 28, 1969 as “wrong, plain and simple.” “The actions and the laws were discriminatory and oppressive, and for that, I apologize,” he said. “I think it would be irresponsible to go through World Pride month and not to speak of the events at the Stonewall Inn in June of 1969.” New York City is hosting World Pride this year, marking the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. “I do know what happened should not have happened. We have, and we do, em-
brace all New Yorkers,’ he concluded. This is the first time the NYPD has ever formally apologized for the raid and subsequent violence. On June 5, NYC Pride, a division of Heritage of Pride, released a statement demanding an apology. “Last night we voted unanimously to demand that the NYPD formally apologize to the LGBTQIA+ community for the violent police raid that triggered the Stonewall Uprising,” the group wrote in the statement. “We offer our stage at the Stonewall 50 Commemoration Rally on Friday, June 28, 2019 for Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill to do so on behalf of the Department.” “Under Commissioner O’Neill, the NYPD has made significant strides in improving relations with LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers,” the statement continued. “Taking responsibility and apologizing for this single event
