It was a quiet weekend at the Eagle bar in Washington, D.C. last weekend.
Local alcohol regulators slapped the bar with a $2,000 fine and suspended its liquor license for seven days after a bouncer shoved former mayor and current city council member Vincent C. Gray out the front door.
Washington Post reports:
The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board issued the penalties against D.C. Eagle at a meeting last week after Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration investigators concluded the guard used “unnecessary physical force.” The club will close Saturday and reopen March 30.
The shoving incident happened last September, when Gray stopped into the bar during an Art All Night event, a citywide arts festival celebrated by local businesses.
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CCTV captures Gray walking into the venue and flashing his council member ID to the bouncer. After exchanging words, the bouncer steps out from behind the counter and pushes Gray back out the front door. Once outside, Gray stumbles and falls to the ground. The guard then turns around and walks back inside, leaving the 76-year-old lawmaker to get up on his own.
The bouncer, who has not been identified, later told police that Gray was “belligerent” and acting “rude” when he was asked for his ID. He claims Gray told him to “make him leave,” so that’s what he did.
Bar owners called the incident “regrettable” but said it could have been avoided “if Councilmember Gray would have presented his drivers license or another ID, especially since he drove by himself to the bar that day.”
As a result of the fall, Gray suffered minor injuries but declined medical help.
Ted Clements, owner of the D.C. Eagle, put out a statement last week that read:
We regret that ABRA has seen it fit to suspend our license for 7 days. During that time, we will not be open to the D.C. community at large and our employees, many of them residents of Ward 7 and other parts of the District, will not receive pay.
We have apologized for the incident with Councilmember Gray, and hope that we can move forward, and continue to thrive as the largest and oldest gay bar in the District of Columbia.
Gray served one term as mayor before losing his reelection bid in 2014 amid a campaign finance scandal. In 2016, he was elected to city council, where he currently chairs the health committee.
Cai
The fed could’ve been nice, but he let his power get to his head, and now wants to punish a business that did it’s job because he was treated as everyone else and not above them. And bouncers jobs are to keep out troublemakers.
iamru2
But roughing up a senior? That’s pretty f Ed up and cowardly!
iamru2
Why did he have to show ID?
Jared MacBride
DC law requires it. Many gay bars have been “temporarily” closed because beverage agents entered and found people without IDs.
Chrisk
I wish they’d make it law here in LA as well. Nothing is worse then someone pushing say 60 ahead of you getting carded and you get waved through by some evil door checker.
Heywood Jablowme
Jeez, what non-existent problem were they trying to fix with that dumb law?
Brian
Shouldn’t a city councilman and former mayor know what constitutes legally acceptable ID for the law he probably was involved with implementing?
gingered1970
Law Requires it. You could be 110 Years Old and look it. They’ll still Card you.
DCguy
Just curious, how was it he drove there but didn’t have a drivers license to show? Sounds like he needs to be cited for driving without a license.
Kangol
Who says he didn’t have a driver’s license. The bartender could have just asked him to show it, and if he didn’t have it, he could have escorted him out. There’s no excuse for roughing up a senior. Gray should sue the bar and that MF.
DCguy
@Kangol
Except when told his Council I.D. which doesn’t show age, was no good, he didn’t say “Oh, I have my license.”
Heywood Jablowme
Hey, a twist on the old joke:
Old politician walks into a bar.
Bartender: “Can I see some ID please?”
Old politician (offended): “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”
Bartender (picks up phone): “Security, there’s an elderly gentleman here who doesn’t know who he is.”
jcoberkrom
A self entitled ol’ queen doesn’t get his way and has a liquor license pulled. He should be sanctioned.
A Mod Squad
So gay bars, safe spaces for our people, think they can push a 76 yr old man to the ground, because he’s belligerent?
Sorry, not gonna fly.
Offer him a bottle of water – you can easily afford to spare one.
DCguy
Except in DC if they didn’t check is I.D. and insure he had a valid one they can get shut down.
Brian
Maybe you should stop going to them so you don’t have to see it.
Brethmas
Cannot understand..
“The bouncer was not identified”.
“He later explained that…”
gingered1970
Then Maybe you should avoid those places.
gingered1970
Okay, the Bouncer was over the line. But The Councilman was a bit arrogant.
Kangol
You want to be in one so badly. Your constant projection is clear for all to see.
Girl, in the leather bar of your fantasies, what are hoping for first? Fisting in sling? A nice hang on a St. Andrew’s Cross? A good flogging in the middle of the floor? In an “outlandish and grotesque outfit” or just nude and on all fours?
Kangol
Arrogant or not, the Councilman deserved basic respect and decent treatment. All the bar’s bouncer or manager had to say was, You have to show these required forms of ID, and if he didn’t do it, escort him out. Violently pushing a 76-year-old man, let alone a former mayor, out of the door, is totally uncalled for. Had Gray fallen and cracked his head open, the bar would have had a manslaughter/dead person to show for acting like idiots. Gray should sue them and the bartender for the violent response.
LthrboyGeorge
You are 100% correct, Kangol
Saps48
Apparently if you won’t show proper ID and tell them to make you leave, they make. you. leave…!
StupidBoy
I worked as a temp at a local minor league football game checking ID’s and giving bracelets. An elderly gentleman had an expired ID. I had to deny him an alcohol bracelet because our “handlers” were 20 feet away watching us. I had to pay rent and buy food with that day’s pay I was going to make from checking ID’s. It didn’t make me happy or glad I was “doing the right thing,” but my needs came first. A non-valid ID is not a valid ID. Period. I can’t cash a check with an expired ID. You can’t get into a club with an invalid ID. A work badge that says you are so-and-so isn’t valid. There are whole training courses on what to look for, including the hologram on the State ID’s that validate you. Bars have been sued and gone out of business for letting in invalid ID holders. I don’t have any ill will for the bouncer that denied the ID, I empathize with him.
one more thing
One idiot has to spoil the fun for everybody else!