D.C. police blamed "go-go" music for violence in a Northwest D.C. club at an Alcohol and Beverage Control Board hearing Saturday.
"It's this go-go," Cmdr. Larry D. McCoy of the 3rd Police District said, according to The Washington Post. "If you have a black-tie event, you don't have any problem. But if you bring go-go in, you're going to have problems."
The hearing was to decide if "Club U" should have its liquor license permanently revoked. Its license was suspended last Monday, after several violent incidents on Feb. 13 prompted action.
A man was fatally stabbed outside the club at 3 a.m., and at about the same time two women were assaulted on the dance floor. One of the beaten women was shot at as paramedics tried to transport her to a hospital, according to D.C. Councilman Jim Graham's Web site.
"This is absolute madness," Graham said in a statement. "But this is the crowd that regularly is drawn to this establishment."
The club is located in the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center, a government office building. During the day the club is a cafeteria for government workers.
"This club should be permanently shut down for the safety and security of the people who go to Club U and live nearby," Police Chief Charles Ramsey wrote in a letter to the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration last week.
"It's unfortunate that young men and women are being slaughtered on our streets. But Club U didn't create that," said David Wilmot, the club owners' attorney, according to The Post. "To take this license away without looking at what truly ails this community would serve an injustice on people who have invested their life savings in this business."
Saturday's hearing was crowded with so many witnesses, both for and against the club, that the hearing was suspended until Friday in order to hear more testimony. Under D.C. law a decision must be made within 24 hours of the hearing's close.
