MONDAY,AUGUST 10 , 2020 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ RE A
MARVINJOSEPH/THEWASHINGTONPOSTD.C.police saidatleast three shooters openedfire early Sundayfromdifferentlocations at acookoutin
the Greenwayneighborhood.An off-dutyofficer wascritically woundedandamong at least20shot.
tionscarryfinesupto $1,000.
Authorities have struggled
withhowtoaddressviolations
of thecity’scoronavirusrestric-
tionsandhave repeatedly de-
clined to sayspecifically how
policewouldenforcetherules.
Butspeakingfromthescene
of Sunday’sshooting, Bowser
indicatedlawenforcementmay
have to bemoreaggressive.
“It’sveryimportantthatasa
community wehave azero-toler-
ance forthisactivity,”Bowser
said,notingpolicewillhaveto
makesome“difficult decisions”
and“breakuptheseevents.”
Bowseradded,“A ndthecom-
munityisgoingto have to under-
stand thatsome people may
have to goto jail.
“Weknowit’s summertime,
peoplehave beencoopedupand
theydon’t have alot of placesto
go,” Bowser said.“There have
beencookoutsthathavehap-
penedpeacefullyforyearsand
yearsthatarespinningoutof
control.”
D.C.Council ChairmanPhil
Mendelson (D) said enforcing
socialdistancingat suchevents
presentsaquandaryfor authori-
ties—aswellas partygoers,who
shouldnotfeellikepolicearea
hindrance.
“A blockparty is theultimate
community activity,” he said.
“But if the alternative is to
preventpartiesorbreakthem
up,Ithinkthat’sgoingtoback-
fire onpolice.”
Mendelsonsaidthereisno
easy solution to enforcement,
but those congregatingacross
D.C.mustrecognizethatmask-
wearing and socialdistancing
makeadifferencein themidstof
apublichealthemergency.
“I don’t think we want to
arrest people fornot wearing
masks,butpeopleneedto wear
masks,andIdon’t knowhowwe
makethathappenif peopleare
goingtodisobeythedirective,”
hesaid.
DexterL. Humphrey, anAdvi-
soryNeighborhoodCommission
member forthe areathatin-
cludesGreenway, saidthepeo-
ple who organized the event
shouldbeheldresponsible.
Humphreysaidsendingafew
police officers to break up a
party withhundredsof attend-
ees“couldcauseariot.”Hesaid
wordneedstogetouttoresi-
dents“thatwe’vegottostop
havingtheseparties.”
Patricia Howard-Chittams,an
ANC representative for the
Greenwayneighborhood, said
persuading peopleto listenis
hard.
“Wecanonlyhopethatpeople
willfollowtheinstructionsgiv-
enoutbythe mayor andthe
healthcommissioner,” shesaid.
“Unfortunately,somepeoplein
thiscommunitythinktheyare
immune.”
Howard-Chittamssaidthere
areseveral placesin andaround
Greenwaywherelargegather-
ings occur,including oneless
thanamile fromSunday’sshoot-
ingthatcriticsonsocialmedia
notedincludedcrowdswithout
masks,nosocialdistancingand
plentyofalcohol.
“Thesearenotnewhot spots,”
shesaid.“Thepolicehavebeen
wellawareof thesefor years.”
But Howard-Chittams also
notedrecenteffortstodefund
policeandconcernsoverpolice
conductinthe wake of thepolice
killingof GeorgeFloydin Min-
neapolis. “Unfortunately,the po-
licehavebeenneuteredbythe
politicians,”shesaid.“It’shard
forthepoliceto dowhattheyare
expectedto do,andthejobthey
wantto do.”
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]Police said nearly1 00 bullets
werefired.
Theparty andthetragedythat
ensuedrevivedquestionsabout
largegatheringsthatfloutMay-
or MurielE. Bowser’s orderthat
prohibits groups larger than
50 people and requires those
older than2towear amask
whentheyleavehomeandare
likelyto comeintocontactwith
others. Themaskrequirement,
oneof thestrictestinthenation,
was toughenedrecently after
casesbeganto spike.
TheBowser(D) administra-
tionhassofaremphasizedvol-
untarycomplianceoverenforce-
mentthrougharrests andfines,
though the mayor indicated
Sundaythatpolicemightnow
takeatougherstand.
Newsham said police had
beenawareof theparty through
anonlineadvertisementforthe
eventandweremonitoringit.
Hesaidofficerscalledinaddi-
tionalhelpasthecrowd grew
but apparently did not inter-
vene.Healsosaidtheydid not
thinktheyhadenoughofficers
to breakupthegathering.
“I’mconcernedthattheevent
wasn’t broken up,”Newsham
saidin aninterview, addingthat
he is reviewing the response
fromthe6thDistrict. Hesaid it
appears officers were present
whentheshootingoccurred.
AWilsonBuildingofficialsaid
theadministrationwasexplor-
ing whether to penalize the
promoters ofthe block party,
who advertised the event on
Instagram.Theorganizerscould
not bereached for comment,
andtheydid notreturnames-
sageleftvia Instagram.
Sunday’sshootings came
threeweeksafterninepeople
wereshotin frontofarestaurant
on 14th StreetinColumbia
Heightsin NorthwestWashing-
ton.That shootingontheafter-
noonofJuly 19left oneofthe
victimsdead.
Authorities Sundaywere
hard-pressedtorecallanother
timewhenso manypeoplewere
shotin asingleincident.
More than 115 people have
beenslainin theDistrictthis
year,a17percentincreaseover
thistimein2019,whichended
the yearwith adecadehigh.
Thosekilledincludean11-year-
oldboyshotat ananti-violence
cookoutontheFourthofJuly
and a71-year-old shot while
protectinghergranddaughter.
D.C.officialshaveattributed
someof thekillingsto disputes
involving neighborhood crews
andgangsandbetweenpeople
whoknoweachother.
Newshamsaidheblamesthe
availabilityofillegal firearms
andthatpeople caughtusing
them arenotdeterredbythe
criminaljusticesystem.Healso
hassaidcriminalsuspects freed
fromjail becauseof thecorona-
viruspandemicarecontributing
to theviolence.
Residents of the Greenway
neighborhoodsaidthatthean-
nualblockpartydrawspeople
fromacrosstheDistricttothe
residentialstreets offMinnesota
AvenueSE,southof EastCapitol
Street. Aflieradvertisedthefifth
annual “34th-n-EAT” cookout,
and indicated free food and
drinks, with relatives of the
teenagevictimsayingit drewan
evenlarger crowdthanin previ-
ousyears.
Theflierpromiseda“drama
freeevent.”
Amusicalartistknownbyhis
social media moniker Saint-
ClairDMV,who attended the
blockparty,saidtherewereas
manyas4 00 attendeesat its
peak. Hesaid it waspeacefuland
SHOOTINGFROMA
Dispute at crowded cookout
preceded shooting, police say
people were having fun for
hours.
Theartist, whodeclined to
providehisrealname,saidthere
wereenoughpolicetherethatit
“made you think twice about
beingstupid.”
Mari Doyle, 22,saidsheand
hermotherwerereturningto
theirhomein theneighborhood
whentheyheardgunfire.They
immediatelyduckedandranfor
cover.
“A ssoonas wegotout thecar,
rounds went off,”said Doyle,
wholivesablockaway fromthe
shooting. “A ll you heard was
peopleyellingfortheirfriends.”
BrownsaidChristopher hada
1-year-oldsonandanotherchild
ontheway. Hewastheoldestof
fiveboysandwasplanningto
attendKingsmanAcademyPub-
licCharterSchoolthisfall in
NortheastWashington.
Relativessaidhe’llberemem-
beredmostfor hisdancingabili-
ty andsignature smile.
Charisma Brown, Christo-
pher’s aunt,expressed dismay
thatpolicedidnotbreakupthe
eventsooner.Shedescribeditas
agathering of hundreds and
saidit hadbeenadvertisedfor
days.
“Ifwe’reinthecoronavirus
thing,whyweretheyallowedto
gatherthatbig?Whywerethey
allowedto throwafunctionthat
big?”shesaid.“Theysaidthere
wasafliersentout,theyknew
aboutthis.This wasn’t some-
thingthatwas hidden.
“Myson’s 12.I’mscaredfor
him to getolder,” she said.
Notinghernephew’schildand
theoneontheway: “Theywill
neverknow how much of a
beautiful soultheirfatherhas,”
shesaid.
D.C.officials said the hun-
dreds of peopleatthe party
made it aclear violation of
Bowser’s orderstocontrolthe
spreadof thecoronavirus.Viola-THE WASHINGTONPOST501/2 MILEBLADENSBURGINDEPENDENCE AVE.CST.RD.TrinidadBENNING RD.NW NESE
SWDetailD.C.ECAPITOLST.MINNESOTAAVE.Fort Circle
ParkKingman
IslandLocation
of shootingRFK
StadiumCHARISMABROWN
ChristopherBrown,17, was
killed Sundayatthe block party.
Hismother,Artecka Brown,
said he hada1-year-oldson and
anotherchild on the way.Offer Ends8/30/20.