Local
Gays arrested; police seize crystal meth, cash in Shaw raid
Man and boyfriend arrested in massive sting
Members of the D.C. police Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit assisted officers with the First District police Vice Unit in a Nov. 23 raid on a house in the city’s Shaw neighborhood that resulted in the arrest of two men on drug-related charges.
A police charging document identifies the two men as boyfriends and police sources said drugs found in the house were identified as crystal methamphetamine.
Neighbors reported that police used a battering ram to force open the door of the house at 901 S St., N.W., as nearly a dozen police cars arrived on the scene. Witnesses said police later escorted two men in handcuffs out of the house and into a police car, where they were taken into custody.
A police complaint filed in D.C. Superior Court says police charged Nicholas H. Fittro, 27, with unlawful possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said the office dropped a similar charge against the second man arrested at the house, Justin W. John.
A police affidavit in support of Fittro’s arrest says police “received information that an individual named Nicholas Fittro was selling methamphetamine from inside his residence located at 901 S Street, N.W. Based on that information Officer M. Fanone obtained a D.C. Superior Court search warrant…to search the entire premises.”
The affidavit says officers forced their way into the house after the two occupants didn’t respond when police knocked on the door and announced in a loud voice that they had a search warrant to enter the premises.
“Once inside, officers encountered Nicholas Hilliard Fittro and Justin Wayne John who were standing in the living room,” the affidavit says. “Mr. Fittro was identified as the lease holder for the property and Mr. John was identified as his roommate and boyfriend. Both individuals identified bedroom #1 as being theirs,” the affidavit says.
It says a search of the bedroom and other locations in the house turned up 12 separate items deemed relevant to the case. It says the first item, found in a metal cabinet drawer in the bedroom, was a “clear plastic bag containing approximately 11.3 grams of a white crystal substance, a portion of which field tested positive for amphetamines.”
The affidavit says various quantities of the same white crystal substance that tested positive as a form of amphetamines were found in three other locations in the house. It says police also found, among other items, a “black digital scale and silver cup containing a white crystal residue,” $2,511 in cash, and an undisclosed amount of foreign currency and money orders.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said the office never discloses its reasons for dropping charges against defendants. But the police affidavit in support of Fittro’s arrest says Fittro later waived his Miranda right to remain silent before consulting with an attorney and “claimed ownership of the contraband which was recovered from inside the house.”
A law enforcement source who spoke on condition of not being identified said Fittro’s assertion that he was the party responsible for the drugs appears to have prompted the U.S. Attorney’s office to dismiss the charge against his boyfriend.
Marie Haldane, Fittro’s attorney, said neither she nor Fittro would comment on the case at the present time. The next court hearing on the case is scheduled for Dec. 14 in Superior Court.
Court records show that Fittro was released on his own recognizance while awaiting trial.
Josh Riley, an addictions specialist for Whitman-Walker Health, said crystal meth use and abuse remains a serious problem within the city’s gay male community. LGBT community leaders across the country have long called for stepped up programs to address crystal meth use within the LGBT community.
District of Columbia
As You Are bar closes temporarily, citing problems with building
Shutdown comes two months after fundraising appeal brought in $170,000
As You Are, the LGBTQ café and bar located in the Barracks Row section of Capitol Hill near the Eastern Market Metro station, has announced on its Instagram page that problems associated with its building at 500 8th St., S.E., forced it to “temporarily” close on April 8.
“As you may be aware, As You Are’s location in Eastern Market has been closed since April 8, when we began to have concerns about the physical condition of the building,” the Instagram message states. “We worked quickly to alert our landlord, and they have assessed the building with their engineers,” the message says.
“We understand that certain repairs need to be made to ensure the safety of our staff, patrons, and community,” the message concludes.
In one of two more recent videos posted on Instagram on April 17 and 26, As You Are co-owners Jo McDaniel and Rachel Pike said they did not have any update on when they can reopen. “The engineers and contractors have all come into the space, and we’re just waiting on a plan and a timeline from our landlord,” McDaniel said in the video.
Pike mentioned in one of the videos that As You Are has a Venmo app set up, and said they appreciate the support they have been receiving from the community. McDaniel added, “We’re really interested in supporting our team through this, as this is an unexpected loss of income for all of us.”
McDaniel didn’t immediately respond to a request from the Washington Blade for a further update on where things stand with the building repair project and the specific nature of the problems with the building. An earlier message posted on the As You Are website said, “Heavy rain damaged the back wall of our building, and we are closed to assess and repair.”
The message added, “Regular updates and ways to support can be found on our Instagram page @asyouaredc.”
The April 8 shutdown came a little over two months after As You Are issued a GoFundMe appeal on Feb. 5 seeking emergency financial support to prevent it from closing in February due to a $150,000 debt. In a display of strong community support, its $150,000 fundraising goal was reached in less than a week. By the following week, the GoFundMe appeal had pulled in more than $170,000 from more than 3,000 individual donations.
Many of the donors left messages on the GoFundMe page for As You Are expressing their strong support for the bar and café, saying it served as a uniquely supportive space for all members of the LGBTQ community.
In the GoFundMe message, McDaniel and Pike said their goal in opening their business in March 2022 was to offer community center type programming beyond just a bar and café.
“AYA is a café, bar and dance floor that hosts diverse programming nearly every night of the week, including social sport leagues, Queer youth socials, weekly karaoke, book clubs, open mics, Queer author events, dance parties, and much more,” the two said in their message.
The building’s owner and the As You Are landlord, Rueben Bajaj, who is the principal operator of the Bethesda, Md., based real estate firm White Star Investments, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. The Washington Post reported that he contributed $500 to the As You Are GoFundMe appeal, saying, “I personally want to see As You Are succeed.”
District of Columbia
Weekend brings two shootings in U Street, Dupont Circle areas
Man dies after incident at Desperados
A man was shot to death shortly after 1 a.m. on Saturday, April 27, inside the Desperados Burgers & Bar at 1342 U St., N.W., which is located on the same block a short distance away from the LGBTQ nightclub Bunker D.C. and around the corner less than a block away from the recently opened LGBTQ bar Crush on 14th Street, N.W.
The incident prompted Bunker to post on its Facebook page a message saying its security team quickly ushered patrons standing outside to enter the club and as a precautionary measure prevented patrons from leaving until it was deemed safe to do so.
A D.C. police statement identifies the shooting victim as Kenneth Goins, 43, of Salisbury, Md. The statement says officers on patrol in the 1300 block of U Street, N.W. heard gunshots at about 1:12 a.m. and immediately arrived at Desperados to investigate the incident.
“Officers located a man inside with multiple gunshot wounds,” the statement says. “Despite all life saving efforts, the victim was pronounced dead on the scene,” it says. Neither the statement nor a police incident report pertaining to the shooting provides a description of the person who committed the shooting nor discloses whether any of the customers inside the restaurant and bar witnessed the shooting.
The statement says the police Homicide Branch is investigating the shooting and urges anyone with knowledge of the incident to call police at 202-272-9099. Like all homicide cases, it says the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a homicide committed in the District.
“There was a shooting incident on U ST. N.W., just 4 doors down from BUNKER,” the Bunker Facebook post says. “Our security team promptly responded, ensuring the safety of everyone by ushering them inside for cover,” it says. “Currently, the courageous police officers are outside, handling the situation and working diligently to maintain a secure environment for our guests,” the message continues.
“As a responsible establishment, we strongly prioritize your safety, and as a precautionary measure, we will not permit anyone to exit the building until we deem it safe to do so,” the posting says. “Rest assured, we, as the owners, take this matter very seriously, and your safety remains our highest priority.”
The U Street shooting at Desperados Burgers & Bar took place a little over two hours after six people were shot and wounded outside the Decades nightclub at 1219 Connecticut Ave., N.W. near Dupont Circle and near several gay bars on P Street and 17th Street in the Dupont Circle area. Police said none of those who were shot suffered life-threatening injuries
A separate police statement says with the help of several witnesses, police identified and arrested Rennwel Mantock, 29, of Hyattsville, Md., in connection with the shooting on charges of Assault with Intent to Kill, Possession of Unregistered Ammunition, and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm. The statement says a gun belonging to Mantock was recovered on the scene. Court records show a judge has ordered him to be held without bond until a May 7 preliminary hearing.
“The detectives’ investigation determined Mantock opened fire after employees removed him from a nightclub following a dispute,” according to the statement.
A police arrest affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court says Mantock told police at the time he was apprehended on the scene that he was dancing with a woman at the club when a security guard ordered him to leave and then “grabbed him by the neck and punched him in the face right before dragging him down the steps.” The Decades club states on its website that it has several floors with multiple bars.
According to the arrest affidavit, Mantock told police that one of the security officials punched him in the face again and threw him to the ground after dragging him out the door. It says Mantock “stated that he then pulled out his gun and started shooting” because “he was very upset about the security punching him in the face,” adding that he “began firing at the Decades’ security.”
The affidavit says five of the six people shot were Decades employees.
Gay former Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Mike Silverstein, who lives near where the shooting took place, said Decades is not known as a place that LGBTQ people patronize but said the surrounding neighborhood is home to many LGBTQ residents and draws many LGBTQ visitors.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday signed a bill that seeks to combat efforts to ban books from state libraries.
House Bill 785, also known as the Freedom to Read Act, would establish a state policy “that local school systems operate their school library media programs consistent with certain standards; requiring each local school system to develop a policy and procedures to review objections to materials in a school library media program; prohibiting a county board of education from dismissing, demoting, suspending, disciplining, reassigning, transferring, or otherwise retaliating against certain school library media program personnel for performing their job duties consistent with certain standards.”
Moore on Thursday also signed House Bill 1386, which GLSEN notes will “develop guidelines for an anti-bias training program for school employees.”
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