The Black Cat Tavern Raid

The Black Cat Tavern was an LGBT bar, established in 1966, located at 3909 West Sunset Boulevard in the Sunset Junction neighborhood of the Silver Lake district in Los Angeles, California. It was the site of one of the first riots in the United States protesting police harassment of LGBT people, and it preceded the Stonewall riots by over two years. On the night of New Year’s Day 1967, several plain-clothes LAPD police officers infiltrated the tavern. According to Tangents – a local gay newspaper – undercover police arrived and started beating patrons as they were ringing in the New Year. After arresting several patrons for kissing as they celebrated the occasion, the undercover police officers began beating several of the patrons and ultimately arrested fourteen patrons for “assault and public lewdness.” … read more >