Local
Police Log: October 28
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit was involved in the following investigations
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit was involved in the following investigations:
On Oct. 24 at 21st & P streets, N.W., two suspects reported that they are involved in a domestic partnership and that they were involved in a physical altercation. An investigation revealed that both suspects had assaulted each other. Both suspects were arrested.
On Oct. 24 in the 2200 block of 13th Street, N.W., a woman reported that she got into a verbal altercation with her roommate over the way he addressed her. Police services were refused and a report was taken.
On Oct. 24 in the 1700 block of 16th Street, S.E., a woman reported that her two roommates accused her of stealing their property. The suspects confronted the woman at the listed location and punched her in the face. An assault report was taken.
On Oct. 23 at 11th & Kenyon streets, N.W., a man reported that while walking with friends he became involved in a verbal altercation with one of his friends at which time the verbal argument became violent and the suspect struck the victim about the head and face. The suspect fled the location prior to the arrival of police and the victim was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.
On Oct. 23 in the 2300 block of T Street, N.W., a man reported to police that he and a suspect were in a verbal altercation. Both started pushing each other when the suspect struck the man in the face with a closed fist. The suspect fled the scene in an unknown direction and the victim was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment. The two are involved in a romantic relationship.
On Oct. 23 in the 2500 block of Naylor Road, S.E., a man and his boyfriend got into a verbal altercation over the use of their car. The suspect shoved the victim and punched him in the face. There were no visible injuries and the victim refused medical treatment. The case was closed with the arrest of the suspect.
On Oct. 22 in the 1900 block of Naylor Road, S.E., a woman reported that she was in a verbal altercation with three suspects when the suspects began assaulting her. Four other suspects joined in and punched and kicked her. The victim broke free and ran home. The suspects then fled the scene. An assault report was taken.
On Oct. 16 in the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., a woman reported that a suspect approached her while in the company of a group of people at a nightclub. She stated that the suspect became upset for an unknown reason and hit her in the back of the head with a closed fist. The victim then walked away and later returned to talk with the suspect. The verbal dispute escalated and the suspect struck the victim multiple times in the face and body with a closed fist. The suspect then fled the scene. A report was taken.
On Oct. 17 in the 4400 block of C Street, S.E., a man reported that his former boyfriend, who had been served with a Civil Protection Order, violated the order by coming to his home and knocking on his door. The man also stated that the suspect returned twice more on Oct. 17 attempting to contact him. A report was taken.
On Oct. 18 at 1600 New York Avenue, N.E., a taxicab driver reported that his passenger threw a sum of money at him below the cost of the fare and opened the rear door of the vehicle. The suspect began to run attempting to avoid the full amount of the fare. The driver flagged down an MPD officer and the suspect was arrested moments later.
District of Columbia
Kennedy Center renaming triggers backlash
Artists who cancel shows threatened; calls for funding boycott grow
Efforts to rename the Kennedy Center to add President Trump’s name to the D.C. arts institution continue to spark backlash.
A new petition from Qommittee , a national network of drag artists and allies led by survivors of hate crimes, calls on Kennedy Center donors to suspend funding to the center until “artistic independence is restored, and to redirect support to banned or censored artists.”
“While Trump won’t back down, the donors who contribute nearly $100 million annually to the Kennedy Center can afford to take a stand,” the petition reads. “Money talks. When donors fund censorship, they don’t just harm one institution – they tell marginalized communities their stories don’t deserve to be told.”
The petition can be found here.
Meanwhile, a decision by several prominent musicians and jazz performers to cancel their shows at the recently renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in D.C. planned for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve has drawn the ire of the Center’s president, Richard Grenell.
Grenell, a gay supporter of President Donald Trump who served as U.S. ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term as president, was named Kennedy Center president last year by its board of directors that had been appointed by Trump.
Last month the board voted to change the official name of the center from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump And The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts. The revised name has been installed on the outside wall of the center’s building but is not official because any name change would require congressional action.
According to a report by the New York Times, Grenell informed jazz musician Chuck Redd, who cancelled a 2025 Christmas Eve concert that he has hosted at the Kennedy Center for nearly 20 years in response to the name change, that Grenell planned to arrange for the center to file a lawsuit against him for the cancellation.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit arts institution,” the Times quoted Grenell as saying in a letter to Redd.
“This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt,” the Times quoted Grenell’s letter as saying.
A spokesperson for the Trump-Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Washington Blade asking if the center still planned to file that lawsuit and whether it planned to file suits against some of the other musicians who recently cancelled their performances following the name change.
In a follow-up story published on Dec. 29, the New York Times reported that a prominent jazz ensemble and a New York dance company had canceled performances scheduled to take place on New Year’s Eve at the Kennedy Center.
The Times reported the jazz ensemble called The Cookers did not give a reason for the cancellation in a statement it released, but its drummer, Billy Hart, told the Times the center’s name change “evidently” played a role in the decision to cancel the performance.
Grenell released a statement on Dec. 29 calling these and other performers who cancelled their shows “far left political activists” who he said had been booked by the Kennedy Center’s previous leadership.
“Boycotting the arts to show you support the arts is a form of derangement syndrome,” the Times quoted him as saying in his statement.
District of Columbia
New interim D.C. police chief played lead role in security for WorldPride
Capital Pride says Jeffery Carroll had ‘good working relationship’ with organizers
Jeffery Carroll, who was named by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Dec. 17 as the city’s Interim Chief of Police, played a lead role in working with local LGBTQ community leaders in addressing public safety issues related to WorldPride 2025, which took place in D.C. last May and June
“We had a good working relationship with him, and he did his job in relation to how best the events would go around safety and security,” said Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance.
Bos said Carroll has met with Capital Pride officials in past years to address security issues related to the city’s annual Capital Pride parade and festival and has been supportive of those events.
At the time Bowser named him Interim Chief, Carroll had been serving since 2023 as Executive Assistant Chief of Specialized Operations, overseeing the day-to-day operation of four of the department’s bureaus. He first joined the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in 2002 and advanced to multiple leadership positions across various divisions and bureaus, according to a statement released by the mayor’s office.
“I know Chief Carroll is the right person to build on the momentum of the past two years so that we can continue driving down crime across the city,” Bowser said in a statement released on the day she announced his appointment as Interim Chief.
“He has led through some of our city’s most significant public safety challenges of the past decade, he is familiar with D.C. residents and well respected and trusted by members of the Metropolitan Police Department as well as our federal and regional public safety partners,” Bowser said.
“We have the best police department in the nation, and I am confident that Chief Carroll will meet this moment for the department and the city,” Bowser added.
But Bowser has so far declined to say if she plans to nominate Carroll to become the permanent police chief, which requires the approval of the D.C. City Council. Bowser, who announced she is not running for re-election, will remain in office as mayor until January 2027.
Carroll is replacing outgoing Chief Pamela Smith, who announced she was resigning after two years of service as chief to spend more time with her family. She has been credited with overseeing the department at a time when violent crime and homicides declined to an eight-year low.
She has also expressed support for the LGBTQ community and joined LGBTQ officers in marching in the WorldPride parade last year.
But Smith has also come under criticism by members of Congress, who have accused the department of manipulating crime data allegedly showing lower reported crime numbers than actually occurred. The allegations came from the Republican-controlled U.S. House Oversight Committee and the U.S. Justice Department
Bowser has questioned the accuracy of the allegations and said she has asked the city’s Inspector General to look into the allegations.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the D.C. police Office of Public Affairs did not immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade about the status of the department’s LGBT Liaison Unit. Sources familiar with the department have said a decline in the number of officers currently working at the department, said to be at a 50-year low, has resulted in a decline in the number of officers assigned to all of the liaison units, including the LGBT unit.
Among other things, the LGBT Liaison Unit has played a role in helping to investigate hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ community. As of early Wednesday an MPD spokesperson did not respond to a question by the Blade asking how many officers are currently assigned to the LGBT Liaison Unit.
Arts & Entertainment
2026 Most Eligible LGBTQ Singles nominations
We are looking for the most eligible LGBTQ singles in the Washington, D.C. region.
Are you or a friend looking to find a little love in 2026? We are looking for the most eligible LGBTQ singles in the Washington, D.C. region. Nominate you or your friends until January 23rd using the form below or by clicking HERE.
Our most eligible singles will be announced online in February. View our 2025 singles HERE.
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