police

*This is being reported by LGBTQ Nation.

In a moment of resistance and queer solidarity, a drag show went on despite patrons and performers being kicked out of a bar by about 20 police officers in bulletproof vests.

Police raided Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ venue P Town Bar on Friday in the middle of a drag event.

Drag artist Indica was performing alongside trans model and nightlife legend Amanda Lepore when police began to gather in the back of the establishment, QBurgh reported. When Indica finished her rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” police directed patrons to exit the bar but did not explain why beyond saying it was a “compliance check.”

“We waited 30 minutes outside for them to inspect every crevice,” Indica told QBurgh. But the patrons and performers refused to let the cops quash their spirit and instead created their own public performance space.

Video captured during the wait shows the crowd belting Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club while Indica dances up and down the sidewalk, collecting tips.

“Guess what, divas?” she said when the performance ended. “This is why queer people have gotta stick the f*ck together in 2025… Make some noise for the queer people in your life everybody.” The crowd cheered.

QBurgh described the moment as one of “resistance, solidarity, and improvisational beauty” and one that “reminded everyone there that drag isn’t just entertainment, it’s political. And when the music stops, the queens don’t.”

Police proceeded to allow 70 people to reenter the bar, saying it had been over capacity with the 130 people who were in attendance.

“The raid was a jarring experience in 2025,” one witness said. “Dozens of state police, geared up with bulletproof vests, flooded the bar and told us to get out. None of the officers would explain what was happening. We stood in the rain for maybe 30 minutes or so until most patrons were let back in. Fortunately the situation was calm and orderly, but they really just overtook this queer space with an entire fleet of police to ‘count heads’ or whatever their excuse was.”

Corey Dunbar, a security guard for P Town Bar, praised the way the staff handled the incident, saying they “ensured patrons’ safety and nerves during the process” since “many people were shaken up.”

State police told QBurgh the raid was instigated by the Allegheny County Nuisance Bar Task Force. It is not known who made the initial complaint that led the cops there.

Witnesses said officers would not look the queens in the eye and would not answer their questions about why things like this never happen at straight bars. Indica also said that some officers even asked to take selfies with Lepore.

This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation

Police are taking proactive measures against teenage gangs targeting gay men in “pedo hunts” in the Sydney area.

New South Wales (NSW) Police have been conducting multiple strike forces and investigations for almost a year, focusing on assaults across the city’s northern beaches, as well as its western and south-western suburbs, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Nearly a dozen coordinated attacks have been linked to mostly teenage gangs, though police believe the actual number is likely higher.

In each case, the victims were gay men who had arranged to meet someone from a dating app like Grindr in public parks. Instead of a consensual encounter, the men were ambushed by multiple teenagers who taunted, beat, and robbed them, sometimes using weapons. Several victims were coerced into falsely confessing to being pedophiles while being filmed, which led investigators to discover videos of the assaults online, including an Instagram account called “pedohunting_syd.”

The attacks and videos, which have spread on platforms like TikTok, are part of a growing trend known as “pedo hunting,” according to police.

Seven attacks occurred within five days in April, prompting police to form Strike Force Section to address the violence. On April 2, a 16-year-old was assaulted in a public park, and a 21-year-old was followed by four men in a car, who asked if he was gay or Muslim before attacking and robbing him and a friend.

At least five boys, aged 14 to 17, have been charged with assault, robbery, “corporal violence,” and possessing unauthorized firearms. Authorities are labeling the gang as a terror group.

A second unit, Strike Force Dividing, has made arrests in connection with similar incidents on Sydney’s northern beaches, charging 14 youths with assault and extortion.

In one case, a gang led by a 21-year-old was intercepted before they could carry out an attack. Another gang, including two juveniles and an 18-year-old leader, was apprehended while heading south out of Sydney.

Investigators have also linked a member of the “pedo hunt” gangs to the attempted murder of a far-right Christian preacher, who was repeatedly stabbed in front of his congregation. “Extremist material” was found on the 16-year-old’s phone, and he and six other individuals, who communicated through a group chat, were charged with terror-related offenses.

Historically, gay men in the Sydney area suffered violent attacks from the 1970s to the 2000s while police largely ignored the issue. The NSW government and police have since apologized for their failure to address these hate crimes and secure justice for the victims.

The recent attacks are being treated with the utmost seriousness, according to a police spokeswoman.

These incidents bear similarities to violent acts carried out by ultra-nationalists in Russia a decade ago, who used social media to lure gay victims to meetings, where they were harassed, beaten, humiliated, and forced to perform degrading acts with objects.

Tag: police

20 police raided a gay bar for a “compliance check.” Then the patrons did something surprising.

Teen gangs are pressuring gay men into falsely confessing to pedophilia as part of a disturbing “pedo hunting” trend on TikTok.