Crobar Shuttered By Party Police
New York cops padlocked Crobar as it was about to open last Friday evening (January
5), justifying the raid on account of nine incidents of violence and a handful of
drug and underage drinking arrests last year. Neighbouring club Sol was also
shuttered on the same night, in the latest police crackdown on nightlife in the
city.
Crobar subsequently successfully challenged the closure in court, and were scheduled
to re-open this weekend with a number of undisclosed stipulations, Skrufff
man-in-New York Matt Kalkhoff said.
In more US news, brave cops battered an eminent 56 year old British historian to the
ground and arrested him in Atlanta, Georgia, last week, after they spotted the
law-breaking Brit jaywalking.
History professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto spoke about the terrifying incident in a
video he posted on YouTube and described how it started when US cop Officer
Leonpacher spotted him stepping out into the street.
"I come from a country where you can cross the road where you like. It hadn't
occurred to me that I wasn't allowed to cross the road between the two main
conference venues," he explained.
"This young man kicked my legs from under me, pinned me to the ground, wrenched my
arms behind my back and handcuffed me. I had five burly policemen pinioning me to
the ground, pressing my neck with really very severe pain." (Standard)
Officer Leonpacher was unrepentant, however, the Times reported, sneering 'He chose
to ignore a uniformed officer. At what point can anyone say I overreacted?" while
the professor's wife Lesley was philosophical.
"I suppose it's lucky he wasn't shot," she told the Times. The professor was held
for 8 hours in 'filthy cells' before being released, he said.
Both incidents occurred as US authorities announced they're to start fingerprinting
all visitors to the states shortly, meaning details of 4 million Brits will be added
to the FBI's criminal databases by the end of the year, the Observer reported.
""This maniacal proposal will turn thousands of law-abiding travellers into terror
suspects," security expert Simon Davies from Privacy International told the paper.
"The technology will be far less reliable - anyone could be the victim of a false
match. Be warned. A San Francisco Bay family holiday may easily become a nightmare,"
he said.
