Draft:Vandalism of Ruby Deluxe Bar

On May 31, 2020, the Ruby Deluxe Bar (Raleigh, NC) was vandalized by a white supremacist group, the windows of the bar having been smashed and the group's symbol having been painted on the exterior. The following morning, the owner and employees were repairing and standing guard of their business while handing out supplies to protesters. The police were called to the scene and fired two rounds at the fleeing party, who had been told to leave the business they were defending.

Background
It is no secret that queer spaces are closing. Governments are quick to shut down nightlife in general, but, as shown in European countries, queer spaces are some of the first to go. For generations, bars and nightlife have been a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. Although governments have frequently characterized nightlife as an embodiment of crime, conflict, and anti-social behavior, the queer community has taken to the spaces as a way for them to express themselves. In fact, most of the political and cultural riots and resistance for the LGBTQ+ community has stemmed from a gay bar. Gay bars have functioned as some of the most public and visible institutions of the queer community, often referred to as a rite of passage for young LGBTQ+ persons. In the landmark 1951 California Supreme Court case of Stoumen v. Reilly, it was legally determined that gay bars were not outright against the law as long as no illegal or immoral acts occurred. With this success for gay bars in the 1950s, the institutions become a focal point for queer nightlife and public life.

Vandalism
In the early hours of the morning on June 1, 2020, the owner of the Ruby Deluxe Bar was cleaning up the broken glass from the attack on his property the day before. The North Carolina bar had been tagged with a white supremacist symbol and the windows had been broken the day prior. Tim Lemuel, the owner, was also assisting Black Lives Matter protesters with the station of water, snacks, and first aid supplies they had set up in the parking lot of the bar. After about seven hours of defending their bar and offering aid to protesters, six police officers arrived on the scene in response to an anonymous call. As the police brandished their weapons, Lemuel vocalized that he rented the property that they were using. The officers yelled back "You’ve been told. I don’t care where you go you gotta go! Move! The game is over. Get out!" while firing two rounds towards Lemuel and his employees.

Although the deputy spokesperson, Eric Curry, sent out a statement that the two rounds fired were just audible and did not contain projectiles, the situation was not diffused between the two parties. Curry made it clear that the police officers used appropriate force to disperse the riot they perceived in the parking lot. Lemuel, a veteran of the United States military, mentioned how "If you’ve never been in that situation, it appears like you’re going to be killed". Lemuel mentions that the Ruby Deluxe Bar is fairly close to the Wake County Justice Center, so the staff was in view of the sheriff for multiple hours before police arrived. The official statement made by the sheriff's department was that the employees in the Ruby Deluxe Bar parking lot were accessories to rioters who had received aid from the employees and then thrown rocks at the police. According to the Wake County Sheriff's office guidelines, "it is the policy of the Wake County Sheriff’s Office that no weapon, either deadly or less-than-lethal will be used against any subject that is offering only passive or verbal resistance".

Importance
This response by the police force is well documented by the LGBTQ+ community. Queer people, adolescents and people of color especially, are often over policed in terms of crimes and under policed as victims. Members of the community find themselves avoiding the police in fear of microaggressions, verbal abuse, sexual misconduct, physical violence as a result of reporting a crime. Community members have reported that they are less likely to report a crime if it was not life threatening out of concern that the police would either dismiss their report or not believe the victim. Although this is not to say that every police officer acts in such a manner, the reality of the police department is that officers are "routinely exposed to culturally entrenched homophobia, anti-gay stereotypes, and discriminatory behaviors endorsed and/or performed by their co-workers and superiors". Law enforcement has historically targeted the LGBTQ+ community through legislation that outlawed cross-dressing and being gay in public.