Local
Prosecutor: fatal stabbing of Marine appears to be hate crime
S.E. incident called hate crime; before altercation, Poth allegedly shouted slurs after seeing Bushong embrace gay friend
Marine Barracks on Capitol Hill (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Liebman told a D.C. Superior Court hearing on May 16 that the government considers the incident a hate crime. But a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said later that the government has not charged the case as a hate crime and that the case remains under investigation.
Liebman said defendant Pfc. Michael Poth, 20, shouted an anti-gay slur at Lance Cpl. Philip Bushong, 23, and Bushong’s gay friend, whom authorities have not identified.
Liebman told Judge Ronna L. Beck, who presided over a preliminary hearing, that the anti-gay slur came minutes before Poth and Bushong got into a verbal and physical altercation during which Poth allegedly plunged a pocket knife into Bushong’s upper chest, piercing his heart.
Bushong was pronounced dead a short time later at a hospital. D.C. police charged Poth with second-degree murder while armed. Police didn’t initially list the incident as a hate crime.
Liebman did not identify Bushong’s gay male friend, saying only that Poth saw Bushong and the friend hugging on the sidewalk outside Molly Malone’s bar and restaurant on the 700 block of 8th Street, S.E. The bar is located across the street from the Marine barracks at 8th and I Streets, S.E., where Poth had been stationed.
“This was a hate crime,” the Washington Post quoted Liebman as saying at the hearing. “The victim and his friend were embracing outside.”
Friends of Bushong have said he was straight. He had been stationed at the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and was visiting Washington, where he planned to move, friends and family members said. At the time of his death, Bushong was days away from being discharged honorably after having completed his term of enlistment.
Poth’s attorney, David Benowitz, argued at the hearing that Poth acted in self-defense. He pointed to one of several video surveillance tapes played at the hearing which showed Poth on the ground before getting back on his feet. Benowitz said Poth was on the ground because Bushong hit or pushed him.
Benowitz also noted at the hearing that a witness told police that Bushong was the first to initiate contact with Poth. At the time of his arrest, Poth told D.C. police homicide detectives that Bushong punched him in the face and head and he stabbed Bushong in self-defense.
According to accounts in the Post and the Washington Times, Benowitz argued that the facts in the case didn’t support a second-degree murder charge and that the charged should be reduced to manslaughter.
Court records show that Judge Beck denied the request to lower the charge and ruled that prosecutors established probable cause that Poth committed second-degree murder while armed. She scheduled a felony status hearing for the case on July 13.
Beck’s ruling came after D.C. Police homicide Det. Dwayne Partman testified at the hearing that a witness told police Poth shouted he was “going to stab somebody and cut their lungs out” just after he walked past Molly Malone’s bar. Partman testified that the witness said Poth made that remark while Bushong and his gay male friend along with other people were standing in front of Molly Malone’s, the Post reported.
The Post also reported that two members of the Marines dressed in civilian clothes entered the courtroom before the hearing began and informed the attorneys that the Marines had given Poth an other than honorable discharge based on poor conduct that occurred prior to Bushong’s murder.
Liebman stated at the hearing that Marine Corps officials informed prosecutors that Poth tested positive for using synthetic marijuana and he had “verbally assaulted other soldiers and had to be restrained,” the Post reported.
William Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said he could not provide further details on the case because it is pending in court and remains under investigation. However, Miller said that at the present time, the U.S. Attorney’s office has not charged the case in court as a hate crime.
Benowitz didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker Health to present ‘Pro Bono Excellence’ award to law firm
Health center set to celebrate 40th anniversary of legal services program
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, announced it will present its annual Dale Edwin Sanders Award for Pro Bono Excellence to the international law firm McDermott Will & Schulte at a May 6 ceremony.
“This year’s award is especially significant as it coincides with the 40th anniversary of Whitman-Walker Health’s Legal Services Program, marking it as the nation’s longest running medical-legal partnership,” a statement released by Whitman-Walker says.
“As a national leader in public health, Whitman-Walker celebrates our partnership with McDermott to strengthen the health center and to enable Whitman-Walker to reach more medical and legal clients,” the statement adds.
“McDermott’s firm-wide commitment to Whitman-Walker’s medical-legal partnership demonstrates a shared vision to serve those most in need,” Amy Nelson, Whitman-Walker’s director of Legal Services, says in the statement. “Our work protects individuals and families who face discrimination and hostility as they navigate increasingly complex administrative systems,” Nelson said.
“Pro bono legal services – like that of McDermott Will & Schulte – find solutions for people who have no place else to turn in the face of financial and health threats,” she added.
“Our partnership with Whitman-Walker Health is a treasured commitment to serving our neighbors and communities,” Steven Schnelle, one of the law firm’s partners said in the statement. “We are deeply moved by Whitman-Walker’s unwavering dedication to inclusion, respect, and equitable access to health care and social services,” he said.
The statement notes that the award for Pro Bono Excellence honors the legacy of the late gay attorney Dale Edwin Sanders. It says Sanders’s pro bono legal work for Whitman-Walker clients “shaped HIV/AIDS law for more than four decades by securing key victories on behalf of individuals whose employment and patient rights were violated.”
It says the Whitman-Walker Legal Services program began during the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s at a time when people with AIDS faced widespread discrimination and often needed legal assistance. According to the statement, the program evolved over the years and expanded to advocate for transgender people and immigrants.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Lisa Amore said the presentation of the Dale Edwin Sanders Pro Bono Excellency Award will be held at the May 6 fundraising benefit for Whitman-Walker’s Legal Services Program. She said the event will take place at the offices of the DC law firm Baker McKenzie and ticket availability can be accessed here: https://www.whitman-walker.org/gtem-2026/
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
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