Police Commissioner James O’Neill has apologized for the police raid on the Stonewall Inn 50 years ago.
“The actions and the laws were discriminatory and oppressive and for that I apologize,” O’Neill said.
Police stormed the bar in 1969 because of a law that made it illegal to serve alcohol to gay people. The incident led to an uprising that lasted several days. The action is credited as the start of the gay rights movement.
“The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong, plain and simple,” O’Neill said.
The 50th anniversary of the movement will be marked later in June.
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