The resulting Stonewall riots helped spark the development of the nascent gay rights movement in the United States.
He joined the NYPD after graduating from college, but shortly thereafter enlisted to serve in the United States Army, where he saw duty in North Africa and in Europe.
When the June 28 raid was initiated by his superiors, Deputy Inspector Pine was commander of the vice squad and he was leading a group of eight officers.
The Stonewall Inn was Mafia-owned and there were 200 people inside when the raid began shortly after midnight with plainclothes officers presenting a search warrant citing the claim that liquor was being sold illegally at the bar.
[1][3] At a 2004 program conducted at the New-York Historical Society, Pine acknowledged that officers "certainly were prejudiced... but had no idea about what gay people were about."
[1] As cited in The Advocate in 2009, Pine said that "I don’t think not liking gay people had anything to do with it" and asked on the Brian Lehrer Show about the justification for the raid responded that "When we took the action that we took that night, we were on the side of right.