DC9 Will Be Back
DC9 can open its doors again on Dec. 15.
At an ABRA hearing today, city lawyer Lousie Phillips announced that the District had made an offer in compromise to the establishment,which DC9 accepted. "The owner and the District have agreed on several points," she announced. As part of the compromise, DC9 promised to keep its staff extensively trained on security matters, and to ask them not to detain patrons. It will also obtain criminal background checks for all its employees as part of the deal, as well as sever all ties with five former employees who were initially charged in connection with the death of Ali Ahmed Mohammed.
The ABC board agreed to much of the compromise, but pushed the reopening date the attorney proposed from Dec. 6 to Dec. 15. In addition, they asked DC9 owner Joe Englert to hire MPD security, and to not rehire any of the five former DC9 employees at any of his other establishments. Englert eventually agreed.
One of the five, though, co-owner Bill Spieler will retain his stake in DC9, but won't oversee any of the club's operations, at least until the medical examiner issues an autopsy report on Mohammed's death. The board is expecting to see that document by Jan. 19, and so has scheduled a status hearing on DC9 for that day.
Though board members had questions regarding whether DC9 employees would ever use force to subdue anyone in the future, DC9 lawyer Anderw Kline spoke to their concerns. Physical interaction will be reserved for only two special situations, he explained: "Defense of others and defense of self." When asked whether employees would ever make "citizen's arrests" as Kline suggested happened the night Mohammed was pursued by DC9 employees after breaking a window, Kline said it wouldn't happen again: "They will not avail themselves of that statutory right."
After the hearing, incensed supporters of Mohammed held up signs and chanted in protest to the reopening.
4:40 pm
Eyewitness Pauline Brown, 58, said she and four other people were sitting on the side of an abandoned building when they saw Mohammed being chased by five men. “He stopped right here in front of the pole,” said Brown pointing to the area. Brown stood about 10 feet away and watched with her friends. She said the first one to catch up to Mohammed was the “big guy.”
“He looked like and acted like a detective so we watched but kept our distance and mouths shut. We didn’t want to get arrested,” she remembered. Brown said many police officers work undercover at night to protect the businesses. “They looked like police officers. We just didn’t know.”
Brown added Mohammed was knocked to the pavement and then all five men kicked and beat Mohammed all over his body but he never fought back. “He kept shielding himself and then all of a sudden he collapsed,” Brown said.
With Mohammed lying motionless on the sidewalk, the employees walked away from the scene of the crime. When the police arrived, the owner remained to give his account of what happened. Brown and two of the witnesses left the scene of the crime.
Six weeks later, the DC Medical Examiner has not released a determination of the cause of death.
Remembering what she saw like a scene from a movie, Brown said, shaking her head in disgust, “It was awful. When we heard the young man died, we kept saying they can’t get away with this. Somebody has to pay.”
10:11 pm
"like a scene from a movie...." Perhaps it was a movie she is recalling, as her description of events contradicts substantial, objective known facts that have emerged
12:11 am
"like scene frim a movie..." she mean no human being would do it on another human for smashed window.
8:05 am
"In addition, they asked DC9 owner Joe Englert to hire MPD security" - huh?
How many incidents of violence involving off-duty (or on-duty) cops have there been in the last decade? Too many to count. How many incidents of violence involving hipsters have there been? One.
Awesome rationale. Because of one incident, of a sort almost unheard of in that community, for which nobody is currently charged with a crime, they have to hire MPD, who is generally known for working security at such awesome places as Love, Kili's Cafe, Smarta/Broadway, Club U.
As for the comment:
"He looked like and acted like a detective so we watched but kept our distance and mouths shut."
Sorry, not trying to judge here, but you think that "justice" is giving the last word in credibility to a single, unconfirmed eyewitness report that appears on afro.com in an article written by... "Valencia Mohammed?" Talk about biased! Is that the victim's mother?
Never mind the basic questions of credibility that one must ask, as to the state of mind of a "58 year old woman" hanging out with her four friends at 2 AM on the side of an abandoned building.
Yeah. I'm sure they just swapping recipes, and couldn't possibly have been impaired in any way that could have affected their perception. The only 58 year olds who hang out on U street at 2 AM are generally Marion Barry in the 80's.
Sure, I'm making a huge generalization here. I am sure there are plenty of legitimate situations wher a sober, alert, and aware 58 year old and her four friends would be hanging out by an abandoned building at 2 AM at 9th and U, and be in a state of mind that qualifies her to be a credible eyewitness to something they saw across the street.
I just can't think of any such situation. But I am sure there are plenty.
3:56 pm
Two words people, 'CORONER REPORT'!
8:01 pm
Any business owner has a right to protect it’s property in any means necessary. This culture of throwing bricks and destroying properties and creating terror gets a person killed in any part of the world including the deceased’s native country Ethiopia . Ali Mohammed very well knew what he was geting into when he threw that brick and smashed the night club’s window as he is from Ethiopia and Ethiopia got numerous between thugs destroying businesses and business people protecting their businesses. It could be considered as a death wish on the side of Ali Mohammed for doing what he did..I would like to mention Just a few of the similar instances that took place in Ethiopia . In 2005 more than three hundred brick throwing people terrorizing customers and businesses were shot dead by the property owners during the act in Addis Ababa Capital city of Ethiopia , in July of 2002, 200 Mazengers tribe members — neighbours to the Anuak tribes in Gambella region were also killed, In 2001, 100 Sidamo tribe members were also killed for destroying properties. More brick throwing Ethiopians were killed were killed in 1992 in Badenyo , Ethiopia and in Arba Gogu , Ethiopia. In all few .this is a trend that is very well terrorizing East Africa. I say remember the Oromo tribe people about the tens of thousands of their people who have been beaten, tortured, imprisoned and murdered in the last twenty years for destroying private properties whgo finally are stoping this behavior. The business owners were simply protecting their business and none of the business owners or employees were charged for protecting their businesses and they were found with compliance to the law . Donot expect the law to be any different in Washington DC too ,what wa done was done to protect the bread and butter of hard working Americans and civilization as a whole. Let this be a lesson to anyone out there that think just because this is a free country they can get away with such acts .
10:03 am
Absolutely DISGUSTING that the city thinks its place is to prevent the employment of five people who were NOT found guilty of any crime. The charges were dropped and they didn't even go to a trial because no crime was committed.
Of course the city wants to do the politically correct thing and kiss the ethiopian "community's" hysterical ass. And they have to protect the idiot, bimbo police chief that thinks her job is to be investigator, judge, and jury the very night an incident occurs.
P.S. Jim Graham, it's disgusting how you have turned your cowardly back on the co-owner and employees of one of the best run bars in DC. You need to be turned out of your job (along with "Chief" Lanier) tout suite. You political hack.