UPDATE: It appears that the club intended to call the incident a “tragic” death, according to a version of the email newsletter which was sent out after the version we received. We just got in touch with Steve Lambert, the booking manager at the Hotel, who confirmed the typo and told us that he couldn’t believe that he made the error. “Everything about this situation is so sensitive,” Lambert said. “This was something I knew I had to spell check and read a few times before I sent it.”
It’s only natural that the people behind H Street music venue the Rock and Roll Hotel would want to support the employees and physical venue of DC9. After all, the two venues share an owner (both fall under the umbrella of Joe Englert’s Washington bar empire) and, for the most part, a scene. The Hotel even hosted several concerts after the 9th Street club was closed due to the investigation into the controversial death of Ali Ahmed Mohammed on October 15.
But if the Hotel had any desire to help wash away the tension that the case has sparked between partisans of the club and a very vocal group of Ethiopians who believe Mohammed was murdered, an email, sent this afternoon to announce a “Campaign to Support DC9,” certainly wasn’t indicative of such:
DC9 was closed on Friday October 15, 2010 following a rush to judgement, a spam of misinformation, media frenzy, and general lack of facts pertaining to charges placed against 5 employees. The charges were quickly reduced and then finally dropped entirely. DC9 stands by its total and complete innocence, and any wrong doing whatsoever. A traffic death occurred, but not at our hands. For 6 years, DC9 was one the most well respected, dearly beloved, established live music venues not only in DC, but on the east coast. We were friends of the neighborhood and supporters of the community. We want to reopen our doors and continue to operate safely and respectfully as we always have.
The email also encourages readers to contact both the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration and Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham with an email containing the subject line “I feel safe at DC9.” This is ostensibly a response to ABRA Control Board member Mital Gandhi, who, during yesterday’s hearing on a motion to reopen DC9, said that he didn’t feel comfortable allowing his wife to visit the club.
Gandhi’s assertion was downright laughable and deserves to be mocked — but referring to the incident as a “traffic death” is probably one of the more flammable interpretations that we’ve read to date about what happened that evening, and one which will certainly do little to quiet the ire of those who firmly believe that Mohammed was beaten to death outside of DC9 in October.
