WASHINGTON — A D.C. community leader who raised the alarm about large, illegal gatherings weeks before a mass shooting where one teen was killed and 21 other people were shot said police and the mayor's office had been warned.
One of Ward 8's ANC commissioners, Christopher Hawthorne, shot video of a large unpermitted gathering at Oxon Run Park on July 25.
“This was a warning that was given to the mayor -- we warned here there would be other pop-ups," Hawthorne said.
Hawthorne was particularly angered that police he videoed at the Oxon Run Park gathering appeared to monitor the situation, but took no action to break it up.
“There were 300-400 people listening to a band in the park," Hawthorne said. "There were people out there with no masks whatsoever in a community already stricken with this pandemic. Our numbers are increasing.”
A citywide order in D.C. prohibits gatherings of more than 50 people and requires masks outdoors when social distancing is impossible.
After the July 25 party videoed by Hawthorne, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said breaking up every illegal gathering was not “a realistic response."
“If you’re asking me is MPD going to be able to stop every intentional group of people and lock them all up, probably not," she said. "That’s not a realistic response. Let’s not act like we haven’t spent the last six weeks saying that the police shouldn’t lock up young black people."
In a statement at the time, police said “voluntary compliance is our primary goal."
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On Sunday, another apparently illegal block party left a 17-year-old father dead, an off-duty police officer fighting for her life and 20 other people recovering from gunshot wounds. DC Police Chief Peter Newsham responded to the chorus of criticism that police should be more aggressive about shutting down large gatherings.
“There was not enough officers on the scene to be able to handle a crowd at that size," Newsham said of the weekend party where gunfire broke out. "Sometimes when our officers try to break up a crowd of that size, they can run into issues, so to safely address a crowd of that size you need a lot more police officers. We had police officers available throughout the city. One of the things we're going to take a look at is why those other officers weren't called to break it up.”
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Newsham added that his department was aware ahead of time that the doomed gathering was planned, but there was no permit for the event.
“I think that there needs to be responsibility for whoever hosted an event of this size, without any consideration of the public health emergency that we have going on," Newsham said. "So that is something we were going to thoroughly investigate and see if somebody can't be charged."
Hawthorne is demanding what he calls a “written protocol” from police and city agencies explaining to community members who to call to report large gatherings what actions to expect and how authorities will handle them.
Bowser said anyone who would fire more than 100 rounds into a crowd of men, women and children is unlikely to pay any attention at all to a ban on mass gatherings.
No arrests have been made as of Monday. Police have some information that suggests that one of the shooters is a man and they are currently looking for multiple shooters. They are convinced that there is video footage of the shooters at the event, and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
