XII's Gibson Gives ANC the Cold Shoulder

Photo provided by XII

Invited guest of the ANC6A ABL Committee Bernard Gibson failed to appear at last night's meeting. Many in the audience no doubt wanted more information from Gibson about an August 15th incident at his tavern. The incident is referenced in the MPD condensed report below:

PSA: 102
CCN: 10117055
RPT DATE: Aug 15, 2010
SHIFT:
OFFENSE: ADW
METHOD: Other
BLOCK: 1100 B/O H ST NE
LOCATION: Tavern/Night Club
START DT: 08/15/2010
START TM: 03:00:00
END DT: 08/15/2010
END TM: 03:15:00

This morning I read, with interest, the ABRA report. Here's a quick rundown:

August 15th around 2:50 am XII was closing up and ushering patrons out the door following a lesbian event (no promoter was involved). During this time a the victim was approached by another woman, who was unknown to the victim. The victim stated that the unknown woman told her to "Fall back," and then began making rude remarks to her. The victim was offended. The unknown woman assaulted the victim, and during the altercation the two women pulled each other's hair. Security personnel separated the two women and escorted the aggressor outside to the two reimbursable detail MPD Officers stationed outside. Security than interviewed the victim, and allowed her to enter the bathroom to calm down. While in the bathroom the victim was assaulted by two individuals who the victim reported appeared to be friends of the aggressor female from the earlier incident. According to the MPD report the two males [this part is confusing because the MPD report clearly indicated one female aggressor, and two male attackers, but the ABRA report investigates assaults by three female attackers, which is what XII maintains occurred] began assaulting the victim when she entered the bathroom and she was on the ground through much of the assault.  The MPD report notes that the victim suffered "a cut to the back of the head, a busted lip, and [a] bruised face."

XII says its security persel found the victim in the bathroom at 3am during a final sweep of the property to ensure that all patrons had departed. XII's ABC Manager stated that the victim said two females had assaulted her, and that they appeared to have been friends of the earlier aggressor, but could not elaborate on how she was assaulted. XII's Manager stated that the victim refused medical attention and left. He also indicated that he could discern no visible injuries that she might have suffered. He said that security personnel escorted the victim out of the establishment and "assisted [her] to her vehicle." According to the MPD report the victim then took a taxi to Washington Hospital Center where she reported the incident.

On August 24th the ABRA Investigator arrived to investigate. Everything appeared to be in order that night. He attempted to review the security footage, but it was unavailable because XII's system only records three days of data at a time. The investigator received no response from either the victim, or the responding Officer despite repeated attempts to contact both. So the case is unresolved.

I was told that ABRA plans to schedule a fact finding hearing, but hasn't done so yet. A fact finding hearing is a non-adversarial investigative tool. During such a hearing ABRA has subpoena powers, so it can compel any witnesses to appear before it who may possess relevant information.

Just to review, here are the discrepancies:
1. XII says the victim reported that she was assaulted in the bathroom by two women. MPD says the victim reported that she was assaulted in the bathroom by two men. Keep in mind that both XII and MPD are supposedly reporting what the victim reported, so unless she changed her mind between XII and the hospital it seems odd that the sexes of her attackers don't match.

2. XII's Manager says the victim had no visible physical injuries. MPD says she had a cut to the back of her head, a bloodied lip, and a bruised face.

3. XII's Manager says the victim was unable to explain how she was assaulted in the bathroom. MPD says the victim reported that the two men attacked her when she entered the bathroom, and that she was on the floor during much of the attack.

It also seems odd, but not impossible, that the victim refused medical treatment and then took a taxi to the hospital (particularly after XII security escorted her to her car).