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Man threatens D.C. hotel workers, says his gun is ‘for faggots’

Audio recording captures suspect amid Dupont altercation

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Lyle Hotel (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

A 21-year-old man arrested by D.C. police on Aug. 24 at the Lyle Hotel near Dupont Circle, which was formerly known as the Carlyle Hotel, for allegedly threatening two hotel workers with a handgun stated at the time he made the threats that the workers were from “the faggot part of D.C. and that his gun is only for faggots and pussies,” according to an arrest affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court.

Court charging documents show that Dylan Nation, a resident of Ooltewah, Tenn., and who was a guest at the hotel at the time of the incident, was charged with Assault With A Dangerous Weapon, Possession of A Firearm During a Crime of Violence, and Carrying a Pistol Without a License.

The arrest affidavit filed by D.C. police says the incident began about 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 24, when a hotel security worker observed Nation, who is identified in the affidavit as the suspect, engaged in a verbal altercation with a woman identified as his girlfriend outside the hotel, which is located at 1731 New Hampshire Ave., N.W. The affidavit says the security worker “stepped in” to deescalate the altercation and escorted Nation and the girlfriend back into the hotel lobby.

Once inside Nation told the security worker, who is listed in the affidavit as Complainant 1, and another person the affidavit identifies as Complainant 2, that he needed to go to his car in the hotel parking lot to get some face wash. According to the affidavit, Complainant 2 escorted Nation to the parking lot where Nation allegedly removed a handgun from the glove compartment of his car.

The affidavit says the girlfriend, meanwhile, told Complainant 1, the security worker, that Nation had a gun in his car, prompting Complainant 1 to go to the parking lot, where he observed Complainant 2 attempting to persuade Nation to put the gun back in the car.

“Complainant 1 sees a black handgun in the Suspect’s left hand and tells the Suspect that guns are not allowed in the hotel and that he must leave it in his car,” the affidavit states. “Complainant 1 stated that while in the back parking lot the Suspect points the gun at him and tells him he will blow his skull off,” the affidavit continues.

“Complainant 1 then reaches for the gun and takes it out of the Suspect’s hand,” the affidavit says, after which it says Complainant 1 walked back to the hotel lobby, removed the bullets from the gun, and asked someone to call police. The affidavit does not say whether Nation struggled to resist giving up his gun or passively allowed the hotel worker to take it from him.

The gun is identified in the affidavit as a Glock 23 .40 caliber handgun.

The affidavit next describes both Nation and Complainant 1 standing in front of the hotel, with Nation demanding that he get his gun back. It says Complainant 1 refused to return the gun and told Nation that police had been called. Minutes later, when sirens from arriving police cars were heard, Nation attempted to flee the scene, running north on New Hampshire Avenue.

“Complainant 1 ran after him and tackled him in front of 1806 New Hampshire Avenue Northwest,” the affidavit says. “While holding the Suspect down a marked MPD cruiser stopped and an officer ran over and placed the suspect in handcuffs. Complainant 1 immediately told the officer that the suspect had pointed a gun at him,” the affidavit says.

It says D.C. police obtained a security camera video from the hotel that also included an audio recording in which the voices of the hotel workers and Nation could be heard during part of the altercation.

“In the video you can hear the Defendant’s voice arguing with the Complainants about having a gun and that he should put it in the car for everyone’s safety,” the affidavit states. “The Defendant refuses, then starts to talk about not being safe around the Complainants and that the Complainants are not tough because they are from the faggot part of D.C. and that his gun is only for faggots and pussies,” says the affidavit.

It concludes by saying Nation waived his right not to talk to police detectives following his arrest and that he denied he ever took a gun from his car and pointed it at anyone in a threatening way.

Court records show that at a presentment hearing on the day of Nation’s arrest on Aug. 24, Superior Court Judge Dorsey Jones ordered Nation held without bond pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Friday, Aug. 26.

The initial D.C. police incident report does not list the incident as a suspected hate crime.

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District of Columbia

Drive with Pride in D.C.

A new Pride-themed license plate is now available in the District, with proceeds directly benefiting local LGBTQ organizations.

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A sample of the license plate with the "Progressive" Pride flag. (Screenshot from the DCDMV website)

Just in time for Pride month, the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles has partnered with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to create a special “Pride Lives Here” license plate.

The plate, which was initially unveiled in February, has a one-time $25 application fee and a $20 annual display fee. Both fees will go directly to the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Affairs Fund.

The MOLGBTQA Fund provides $1,000,000 annually to 25,000 residents through its grant program, funding a slew of LGBTQ organizations in the DMV area — including Capital Pride Alliance, Whitman-Walker, the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Community, and the Washington Blade Foundation.

The license plate features an inclusive rainbow flag wrapping around the license numbers, with silver stars in the background — a tribute to both D.C.’s robust queer community and the resilience the LGBTQ community has shown.

The “Pride Lives Here” plate is one of only 13 specialty plates offered in the District, and the only one whose fees go directly to the LGBTQ community.

To apply for a Pride plate, visit the DC DMV’s website at https://dmv.dc.gov/

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District of Columbia

Drag queens protest Trump at the Kennedy Center

President attended ‘Les Misérables’ opening night on Wednesday

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(Photo by Julian Applebaum from Qommittee)

On Wednesday night, four local drag performers attended the first night of the Kennedy Center’s season in full drag — while President Donald Trump, an outspoken critic of drag, sat mere feet away. 

Three queens — Tara Hoot, Vagenesis, and Mari Con Carne — joined drag king Ricky Rosé to represent Qommittee, a volunteer network uniting drag artists to support and defend each other amid growing conservative attacks. They all sat down with the Washington Blade to discuss the event.

The drag performers were there to see the opening performance of “Les Misérables” since Trump’s takeover of the historically non-partisan Kennedy Center. The story shows the power of love, compassion, and redemption in the face of social injustice, poverty, and oppression, set in late 19th century France. 

Dressed in full drag, the group walked into the theater together, fully aware they could be punished for doing so.

“It was a little scary walking in because we don’t know what we’re going to walk into, but it was really helpful to be able to walk in with friends,” said drag queen Vagenesis. “The strongest response we received was from the staff who worked there. They were so excited and grateful to see us there. Over and over and over again, we heard ‘Thank you so much for being here,’ ‘Thank you for coming,’ from the Kennedy Center staff.”

The staff weren’t the only ones who seemed happy at the act of defiance. 

“We walked in together so we would have an opportunity to get a response,” said Tara Hoot, who has performed at the Kennedy Center in full drag before. “It was all applause, cheers, and whistles, and remarkably it was half empty. I think that was season ticket holders kind of making their message in a different way.”

Despite the love from the audience and staff, Mari Con Carne said she couldn’t help feeling unsettled when Trump walked in.

“I felt two things — disgust and frustration,” Carne said. “Obviously, I don’t align with anything the man has to say or has to do. And the frustration came because I wanted to do more than just sit there. I wanted to walk up to him and speak my truth  — and speak for the voices that were being hurt by his actions right now.”

They weren’t the only ones who felt this way according to Vagenesis:

“Somebody shouted ‘Fuck Trump’ from the rafters. I’d like to think that our being there encouraged people to want to express themselves.”

The group showing up in drag and expressing themselves was, they all agreed, an act of defiance. 

“Drag has always been a protest, and it always will be a sort of resistance,” Carne said, after pointing out her intersectional identity as “queer, brown, Mexican immigrant” makes her existence that much more powerful as a statement. “My identity, my art, my existence — to be a protest.”

Hoot, who is known for her drag story times, explained that protesting can look different than the traditional holding up signs and marching for some. 

“Sometimes protesting is just us taking up space as drag artists,” Hoot added. “I felt like being true to who you are —  it was an opportunity to live the message.”

And that message, Ricky Rosé pointed out, was ingrained with the institution of the Kennedy Center and art itself — it couldn’t be taken away, regardless of executive orders and drag bans

“The Kennedy Center was founded more than 50 years ago as a place meant to celebrate the arts in its truest, extraordinary form,” said Ricky Rosé. “President Kennedy himself even argued that culture has a great practical value in an age of conflict. He was quoted saying, ‘the encouragement of art is political in the most profound sense, not as a weapon in the struggle, but as an instrument of understanding the futility of struggle’ and I believe that is the basis of what the Kennedy Center was founded on, and should continue. And drag fits perfectly within it.”

All four drag performers told the Washington Blade — independently of one another — that they don’t think Trump truly understood the musical he was watching.

“I don’t think the president understands any kind of plot that’s laid out in front of him,” Vagenesis said. “I’m interested to see what he thinks about “Les Mis,” a play about revolution against an oppressive regime. I get the feeling that he identifies with the the rebellion side of it, instead of the oppressor. I just feel like he doesn’t get it. I feel it goes right over his head.”

“Les Misérables” is running at the Kennedy Center until July 13.

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District of Columbia

Man arrested for destroying D.C. Pride decorations, spray painting hate message

Prosecutors initially did not list offense as hate crime before adding ‘bias’ designation

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(Photo by chalabala/Bigstock)

D.C. police this week announced they have arrested a Maryland man on charges of Destruction of Property and Defacing Private Property for allegedly pulling down and ripping apart rainbow colored cloth Pride ornaments on light poles next to Dupont Circle Park on June 2.

In a June 10 statement police said the suspect, identified as Michel Isaiah Webb, Jr., 30, also allegedly spray painted an anti-LGBTQ message on the window of a private residence in the city’s Southwest waterfront neighborhood two days later on June 4.

An affidavit in support of the arrest filed by police in D.C. Superior Court on June 9 says Web was captured on a video surveillance camera spray painting the message “Fuck the LGBT+ ABC!”  and “God is Real.” The affidavit does not say what Webb intended the letters “ABC” to stand for. 

“Detectives located video and photos in both offenses and worked to identify the suspect,” the police statement says. “On Sunday, June 8, 2025, First District officers familiar with these offenses observed the suspect in Navy Yard and made an arrest without incident.”

The statement continues: “As a result of the detectives investigation, 30-year-old Michael Isaiah Webb, Jr. of Landover, Md. was charged with Destruction of Property and Defacing Private Property.”

It concludes by saying, “The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating this case as potentially being motivated by hate or bias. The designation can be changed at any point as the investigation proceeds, and more information is gathered. A designation as a hate crime by MPD does not mean that prosecutors will prosecute it as a hate crime.”

The online D.C. Superior Court docket for the case shows that prosecutors with the Office of the United States Attorney for D.C. charged Webb with just one offense – Defacing Public or Private Property.

The charging document first filed by prosecutors on June 9, which says the offense was committed on June 4, declares that Webb “willfully and wantonly wrote, marked, drew, and painted a word, sign, or figure upon property, that is window(s), without the consent of Austin Mellor, the owner and the person lawfully in charge thereof.”

But the initial charging document did not designate the offense as a hate crime or bias motivated crime as suggested by D.C. police as a possible hate crime.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office on Tuesday didn’t immediately respond to a request from the Washington Blade for an explanation of why the office did not designate the offense as a hate crime and why it did not charge Webb in court with the second charge filed by D.C. police of destruction of Property for allegedly destroying the Pride decorations at Dupont Circle.

However, at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11, the spokesperson sent the Washington Blade a copy of an “amended” criminal charge against Webb by the U..S. Attorney’s office that designates the offense as a hate crime. Court records show the amended charge was filed in court at 10:18 a.m. on June 11.

The revised charge now states that the criminal act “demonstrated the prejudice of Michael Webb based on sexual orientation (bias-related crime): Defacing Public or Private Property” in violation of the D.C. criminal code.  

The U.S. Attorney’s office as of late Wednesday had not provided an explanation of why it decided not to prosecute Webb for the Destruction of Property charge filed by D.C. police for the destruction of Pride decorations at Dupont Circle.

The online public court records show that at a June 9 court arraignment Webb pleaded not guilty and Superior Court Judge Robert J. Hildum released him while awaiting trial while issuing a stay-away order. The public court records do not include a copy of the stay-away order. The judge also ordered Webb to return to court for a June 24 status hearing, the records show.

The arrest affidavit filed by D.C. police says at the time of his arrest, Webb waived his right to remain silent. It says he claimed he knew nothing at all about the offenses he was charged with.

“However, Defendant 1 stated something to the effect of, ‘It’s not a violent crime’ several times during the interview” with detectives, according to the affidavit.

The charge filed against him by prosecutors of Defacing Public or Private Property is a misdemeanor that carries a possible maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a fine up to $1,000.

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