So I got this in my inbox this morning re: some Law & Order shit that went down at DC9 last night
Dear Friends, there was tragedy last night in the vicinity of 9th and Florida.
I have spoken to various people this morning and there are questions unanswered.
But, according to MPD information, here are what appear to be the basic facts:
An intoxicated person was put out of DC-9 at 1940 9th St. He returned and somehow managed to gain admittance. And was put out again. He then returned and threw two bricks (perhaps at one of the employees?) which broke the window. (Earlier that night, another patron had punched and broken a window, he was arrested for that again earlier in the evening.)
Bar employees chased the man down to the 2000 block, caught him and beat him. MPD arrived and he was transported to the hospital where he died.
Five DC 9 employees have been arrested and charged, some—at this hour– with homicide. Arraignment is this afternoon.
There are questions unresolved in this matter. But MPD is now considering using the emergency police powers of the MPD Chief to shut the establishment for up to 96 hours, allowing the ABC board hold a hearing to consider possible suspension of the alcohol license.
More as additional information is released. Bests Councilmember Jim Graham
Something’s not adding up…..I can’t imagine anyone at DC9 have a rage-out and beating some guy to death.
So we’ve decided to write Jim Graham back:
Hi Jim -
This is Jason from BrightestYoungThings. We’ve worked together in the past, and I understand you’ve been a big booster (thanks!), but today I’m writing as a constituent, and on behalf of the editorial staff and contributors to BYT, in support of DC9 given recent events.
What happened last night was, of course, an avoidable tragedy, and one that should and will be prosecuted against whatever individuals (employees or otherwise) perpetrated it. That being said, the notion that that event resulted from systemic problems at DC9 itself runs counter to our seven years of experience as patrons of that venue. DC9 is, and has always been, one of a couple venues in DC that consistently creates an environment where neighborhood and out of town patrons alike can enjoy new bands before they’re discovered by the rest of the world (e.g. one of those acts – the XX – played DC9 last december and just sold out the 9:30 Club.) For years, all of us at BYT have enjoyed shows, hosted events, and made hundreds of friends in a safe and respectful environment that is much more indicative of DC9 than last night’s tragedy would suggest. I can’t state how strongly DC9′s role has been in strengthening DC’s nascent reputation as a city of youth culture. It’s not just another nightclub, and it deserves all of our support.I understand – and appreciate – that DC9 will now be coming up for all sorts of appropriate and important review from the city and ABRA. I’m hoping that throughout this process the actions of those individuals can be properly distinguished from the venue itself, and that the full nature of DC9 – the way it’s run, the contribution it makes to our city, and its history as a safe, respectful, and important venue – will be given a chance to be properly illustrated. If there are any opportunities for us to add to this letter – at hearings or otherwise – please let me know. In the meantime, I’m hoping you’ll add our collective voice to what should be an outpouring of support for DC9. Thanks, Jim.
-Jason + Brightest Young Things.
One hitter your name certainly speaks to how seriously you’re taking this situation yourself.
Anyway, yeah everyone is appalled that somebody died, no matter how violent they were being beforehand. If they were deliberately beaten, appropriate punishment should be meted out. But in cases like this the cops often like to instigate a witch hunt and shut clubs down, even if they had nothing to do with it, even if it turns out it wasn’t a murder at all, but a terrible accident caused by too much beer and hardcore.
Here is the TBD article that keeps getting updated with more accurate info as conflicting reports come in.
http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/10/man-found-dead-in-northwest-21726.html
By the way I am speaking only for myself in these comments not as an official representative of byt obv.
Johnny could you say more? Did the dudes face look bruised or beat up? Was anyone else at the scene bleeding from cuts or anything? I know we’re not cops but it’d be helpful to get all this out in public since I like libby feel that the club and the employees are not at all the assault and battery types.
OMG photo from the scene!!! This is making my hangover today EVEN WORSE! http://yfrog.com/j1guurj
I saw no facial bruising or bleeding. He was conscious when he was in the ambulance. I saw him sitting upright just staring, kind of in a daze. There were about 5 cop cars at the time. Like I said, one had blood all over the front of it.
I was at DC9 about 15 minutes before. There were only about 25 people there. They were playing a lot of hardcore and it seems that a good bit of hardcore people were there.
The bartender was a fairly large guy. I saw him pretty frantically talking in front of DC9 with a few other people and a cop.
This is from the new *updated* TBD article (fact check people, come on!)
“DC9 manager KT Robeson says that the victim was not in fact beaten, but merely restrained. “Whatever he died from had to do with something pre-existing,” Robeson says. “He was not beaten, that is a lie.” Another DC9 employee told ABC 7 a similar tale, saying DC9 employees were holding down the man, waited for police to arrive, and watched police put him into the back of a cop car.”
So either the guy died of being too drunk, an early brain injury, a single punch to the head, or the cops beat him and are covering it up. 5 employees have been picked up, let’s hope that nobody gets charged with anything they didn’t do.
I really hope this doesn’t shut down DC for any length of time. It would be a huge loss from the music community if the actions of one drunk dude or even an overzealous patron or employee shut down one of the best clubs in the city.
whoa, well that is somewhat compelling. jesus.
I was there last night. I just missed the beating, but it was very odd.
The guy was in the back of an ambulance…he looked awake and had scratches all over his abdominal. It almost seemed as if he had been dragged in glass or something.
There seemed to be blood all over the front of a cop car too…
A business trying to cover its tracks……thats weird.
Latest update says that Lanier denies DC9′s management’s claims, that the victim was semi-conscious when police arrived and had injuries that were consistent with beating and kicking.
I like how some people are more concerned about DC9 getting shut down than the whole “some dude just died, possibly murdered by club employees” thing.
If they are for real. Im never going back and supporting these murdering assholes.
Thanks for your input, JohnnyB. Since there are conflicting reports from witnesses and MPD, please remember there is an important difference between credibility and accuracy. At this point, the facts are slim and there are countless ways the events could have actually unfolded. The media (and social media) have an unfortunate way of getting events like this out of control.
Hell, the Washington Post ran an article this week saying how the media got key facts wrong about the Dick Cheney accidental shooting, and that was five years ago.
More facts from the every shifting cauldron on TBD:
“DC9 owner Bill Spieler was one of those arrested. Four others have been identified as 20-year-old Darryl Carter, 22-year-old Reginald Phillips, 28-year-old Evan Preller and 25-year-old Arthur Zaloca. “
“So either the guy died of being too drunk, an early brain injury, a single punch to the head, or the cops beat him and are covering it up. 5 employees have been picked up, let’s hope that nobody gets charged with anything they didn’t do.”
Peter this is speculation. I know KT and do not believe she’d lie, but I also (and neither do you) know whether she witnessed the actual encounter. The article doesn’t state either way. It very well could be that he was beaten – again, we don’t know – so to lump it all up into him having a brain injury or being drunk or a single punch or that cops beat him is disengenuous.
As far as charging for what someone didn’t do – well that’s the law. You pick up and charge those suspected of committing a crime, and then the investigation either warrants dismissing charges and releasing them, or going to court for the prosecution to prove their case.
I worked in clubs and I know very well how quickly things can get out of control, especially when tensions are high and are dealing with inebriated persons. All we can hope for at this point is justice: for the victim if deserved, for those charged if they are innocent, etc.
If anyone has first hand eyewitness accounts of what occurred it would be much better to go to the police with the information, and document it, instead of talking on the internet or making potentially specious speculation.
Isn’t Howard University hospital just blocks down the road?
I think we agree here actually michael. i was speculating about what else could have happened outside of jim graham’s statement and the widely reported headlines that “a man was beaten to death”. obviously eyewitnesses should go to the police first, and all speculation should be taken as just that. It is possible that those arrested were responsible for the guy (named Ali Mohammed apparently) dying, and its possible they were not.
I do think though that as people who actually know and like going to the club, we have a responsibility to help try to find the truth. if it’s bad for the place because a crime was committed, so be it. but if we don’t speak out and ask for a rigorous accounting of the facts of the case, the real story could get buried in a wave of prurient yellow journalism and attention grabbing political tactics. It always looks better for a politician and a police chief to come down hard on an establishment when something like this is connected to it. If individuals deserve punishment that’s fine, and if the bar was actually found to have violated rules systemically, it would be understandable to shut it down. But many other things could have occurred. I personally want to urge everyone in the media and commenting on the media to keep an open mind and not go for the easy story: “5 Roughneck Bouncers Kick A Drunk Patron To Death”. It’s probably not as simple as that.
also, as far as i know the police arrest and charge someone because of evidence gathered in an investigation, not because they are suspected of a crime. but then, im pretty damn far from a lawyer aint i?
Peter – cool. I did note the WP article states that the employees beat him to death, too, but since when was the WP last for responsible journalism? 1960?
Howard University Hospital is at 7th and U, two blocks from the 2000 block of 9th St (that’s a fancy way of saying “9th and Florida”) where this apparently happened.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/homicide/club-owner-employees-charged-i.html
those are all good dudes, what a tragedy… there can not be any other word for it…
Wow, that WP article paints a much nastier picture. I wonder if there were any security/traffic cameras that could shed some light on the ordeal.
The WaPo post has a very MPD party-line POV. Not saying it’s wrong, just saying they seem to essentially be regurgitating the facts as presented by Lanier. One thing it reminded me again is to never read WaPo comments.
no shit man that wapo thread makes byt trolls look like Cato the Younger.
I have been thinking about how exactly could he of died. …
The amount of blood I saw yesterday he easily could of just bled out.
No offense but the only people who hang out here are crackheads.
It’s disgusting how willing the WaPo & others are to jump to conclusions. Can I get an “allegedly?” Jesus Christ. Also until an autopsy can be done on the guy, it’s irresponsible to even state that he was “beaten to death.”
He probably died of embarrassment at the horrifyingly low quality of DC news reportage.
this just in: large stockpile of snowballs found in DC9 freezer. Police shut down the whole block and the black cat too just in case.
Just watching NBC News at 4 and they just reported that further investigation is revealing that the 5 people charged with murder might not be responsible for the death.
“But late this afternoon, police said the charges might be changing. Police called a press conference for 3:45 p.m. was canceled and a spokesperson said she was still waiting for a document from the city’s medical examiner’s office.”
http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/10/man-found-dead-in-northwest-21726.html
Blood in the Streets:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs028.snc4/33755_444249512780_668772780_5370493_7694340_n.jpg
TBD has been recasting from all the other actual news sources. They reported initially that it was the 9:30 Club and all other information was completely incorrect. Now I’m noticing commenters and others trying to push traffic there… no thanks flunky start up.
Good riddance to you. How are you going to say this when you don’t know what happened? “Murdering assholes”? WTF? POSER.
Isn’t “no thanks flunky start up” the new Belle and Sebastien album?
Last night
amy: “is Roped coming?”
me: “no, he pretends not to like popular indie bands like B&S and LCD Soundsystem even if they’re really really good”
Hide yo hipsters. Hide yo gutterpunks. They killin everybody up in here.
you take that back, i love belle and seb. I just dont care to see them live as they meander boredly through my favorite songs.
lcd tho is yawntastic
HOPEFULLY THIS PLACE GETS SHUT DOWN FOR KILLING ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. AND ALL 5 GUYS, INCLUDING THE OWNER, GET CONVICTED OF 2ND DEGREE MURDER. JUST AWFUL. THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED.
Hate to say I told you fuckers so…
http://dcist.com/2006/12/04/norfolk_western.php
Internet Im not about to sit up here and argue with you about who’s to blame
I call no names, real talk
see internet, only thing i’m trying to establish with you is not
who’s right or who’s wrong, but what’s right and what’s wrong,
real talk
a hardcore show means tension and adrenaline were already high. when i saw this booking a month ago i questioned the logic behind it. it is a small place. if you are stupid enough to get thrown out of a club and then come back and throw a brick through the front window, you deserve some kind of punishment, but death is too extreme in this country. i would think there might be some surveillance cameras in that area, i know nellies has them.
dear jim gram, I am claerly not young nor bright, but i will say that if you add up the code of everyones sanskrit tatoos it says that the real killers work at smith point. this will all come out soon.
I don’t really have any opinion on the matter, only to correct a previous comment. As someone that works in a profession that deals with blood on a pretty common basis, the amount of blood in the pictures is nowhere near enough for that guy to have ‘bled out’. You don’t want to witness what it actually looks like when someone bleeds out. Its not pretty. Careful with the assumptions.
you do realize that the blood splatter that people are posting photos of was found south of where they actually chased Muhammad down and restrained him? That area is notorious for violence on the street and judging by the location probably was unrelated to the event in question.
plenty of updates on the TBD article: http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/10/man-found-dead-in-northwest-21726.html
So DC9 apologists, what’s it gonna be… that they didn’t touch the guy other than “holding him down” for the cops or crass excuses for why he deserved the beating? Can’t have both, flunkies. I still can’t believe an official statement was issued by an employee there stating that the guy “had a previous condition”. Stars and Bars forever? More like stars behind bars forever.
Fact is- this place sucks.
‘indie’ music was once all about providing a safe refuge for creative people. When you totally divorce the ideologies that constitute ‘indie’ from the music, you end up with artists that are no different from ‘major label’ mainstream acts, being peddled to predictable tastebuds. Sure, its OK to like music that may not be challenging or particularly unique- but when you assert that the ‘flavor’ of the music speaks to you louder than what the music is actually saying, you miss the point entirely. And clearly, DC9 is a standard-fare middle-of-the-road rock club, akin to the Mercury Lounge in NYC or 1,000,000 other venues in the United States.
The fact that lots of people on this board really like going there for their live music intake speaks to the huge, gaping void in this city, that will hopefully be filled one day by a decent, eclectic, creatively programmed venue.
Fact is-
Many bands here in DC don’t like DC9, the Red and the Black, or the Rock and Roll Hotel. These places DO have some whack policies that carry down to the artists, and they have shitty, narrow-minded booking policies. People from throughout the local music scene have spoken out against their door-polling policy, for example- and many people seem to think that their booker is a weasely, egotistical guy, and that he’s been that way since his days setting up shows in Michigan (or wherever). These 3 venues are simply not that cool, unique, or valuable to music in this town.
Often, there is better music happening in DC, that many of you would love, but simply don’t have access to. Because blogs like Brightest Young Things and venues like DC9 show you what they want to show you. Maybe it seems like the tastiest stuff you could ever imagine- but thats because you aren’t able to consider all the evidence. I do not feel like there is a real burgeoning, blossoming musical community being developed around this place- In most other cities in the world, bands build up followings through playing decent support slots- at DC9, a seemingly narrow selection of local bands, culled from the pages of blogs like Brightest Young Things, are tapped to open every show that could potentially allow artists to develop a following by playing to clubs filled with people. They want bands to bring their own fans, or play someplace else, without even having the chance to generate a fanbase. Really, this means your band might be great (or crap), but they do not put you in a position to make fans in their clubs. And if you are a musician, you aren’t getting paid unless fans show up and say they’re here to see you…
Fact is-
This place really doesn’t do much to support the malnourished musical community here in DC- The stuff that makes good music tick does not have a home at DC9, even if semi-famous ‘underground’ corporate rock bands you like play there (because their huge booking agent put them there). If this place didn’t have a wad of cash sitting around to throw at ‘name’ bands, most ‘name’ bands wouldn’t play here. I can’t abide by the fake ‘indie’ culture that people claim to identify with when they frequent this place. This place is not an alternative to anything. And frequenting the clubs these guys run does nothing for good music, local music, creative music, ‘indie’ music, or anything like that. So like whatever you want to like, but there’s a difference between being tasteful and being selfish… This town is musically sick, in part because we put up with places like this! Holding it accountable for its many consciously made bad decisions is the only way to make headway towards something better- whether that opens doors for an entirely new, game-changing space, or simply shitty policies revamped to be tolerable- remains to be seen.. But I stopped going to this place a long fucking time ago!
do I believe that an ordinary person working at a middle-of-the-road rock venue in the USA could accidentally beat a man to death- and maybe work out some hatred for the previous window-smasher on him in the process- only if he was rich and yapered up on blow.
I couldn’t agree more. This type of shit ridiculous! This appears to have been way more than reasonable force, which might be used when someone deprives you of property. So what the guy broke a window? A window + lost profits that the club might have incurred from a broken window <<< a death of a man in his 20s. I hope the defendants have exorbitant lawyer fees! I hope they get raped in tort, just to set an example. Punitive damages FTW.
I don’t understand all of the apologists, & I used to get it in regularly at DC9.
Oh yeah, and the blame-the-defendants-not-the-club line is bunk! The club SHOULD be responsible for the people it employs.
You are a pretentious twat, and this is a thread about a man DYING, so maybe it isn’t the place for your anti-corporate screeds, huh?
wow!!! Really?? you are going to joke about how a “goddamn dc9 employee takes down a drunk on the street.” Is that something that you think is funny? A group of bitch-ass bouncers from a shitty-ass DC club stomping out 1 defenseless person? I seriously cannot wait until they are in jail for a long time for murder, which is going to happen http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2010/10/18/a-peek-into-the-dc9-murder-investigation/ And for the dc9 supporters here, you are fucking disgusting.
“The amount of blood I saw yesterday he easily could of just bled out.”
Eh…not so much.
hey jim brown, do not sully my good name. when i was a record-breaking running back from the cleveland browns i would have run roughshod all over your whiny ass. i would have taken you down like a goddamn dc9 employee takes down a drunk on the street.
nobody wants to hear your stupid sob story about how your band never gets booked in d.c. chances are you’re pretty terrible and that’s the sole reason why nobody wants to hear your music.
Regarding the blood in the street everyone is getting up in arms about – I’d like to remind everyone that at 1:30 am on the same morning a patron of DC9 broke a window with his fist and was subsequently arrested outside of DC9. The blood in the pictures appears to be from that arrest and not the alleged assault.
Wow, really? You cannot wait for the DC9 employees to “[be] in jail for murder”? Is due process something that you think is funny? No official cause of death and you already call upon the (still) innocent suspects to spend time in jail? I seriously cannot wait until more facts about this case are revealed, which is going to happen.
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2010/10/18/a-peek-into-the-dc9-murder-investigation/
As for the DC9 supporters here, keep on keepin’ on.
Just face it!! Your friends are going to get violently raped in jail
Wow. Now we’ve delved into rape jokes. Internet trolls at their worst.
Let’s see a guy throws a brick through the club window. 5 guys chase him down and stomp his head in.. oh and there are witnesses…. …. So, they all get there stories straight and are out for now….. oh but Nov.8th is coming ……. these dudes are going to pay the price for their actions. You know sometimes good people do really stupid things and this is one of those cases. it’s just aggrevating to hear all the people sticking with them.. because they are “their friends, these guys” would never do anything like this. Well,,,,,, bullshit, you are friends with murderers… i will tell you this… one of the five is going to fold and tell the truth to save his own @ss… someone or a few of them will go to jail… hey, maybe one or two of them will commit suicide from the guilt… they know what they’ve done… for shame DC9, for shame.
IF YOU KILL SOMEONE EVEN ACCIDENTALLY, MAN UP AND SAY YOU DID IT YOU PUSSIES.
I am not happy this happened to this youth but glad it happened to the Ethiopian comunity , my community, a very sad day for a peacful , very hard working community.. We wont let this slide .. Believe me!!! He was not just a guy thwho died on the street he is a very loved child, his crime.. threw one brick! they could have helped to get him arrested why beat him to death…