Even veteran Metro riders wonder every once in a while if it’s safe to ride the trains or wait in the stations in off-peak hours. We wonder if a mugger will get the best of us, or if someone might be able to steal our keys, iPod, or other personal item. However, this fear was given a whole new meaning Saturday evening when more than 70 youths broke out into an all-out brawl in the metro system.
The fight began around 11:00pm outside the Gallery Place-Chinatown station. Some reports indicate that police may have broken up the fight on the street outside the station, but the teens then went below-ground to the station, where they then boarded train cars and continued their fight. The fighting then continued all the way to L’Enfant Plaza, where it spilled out onto the platforms again. The brawl terrified riders both on the train and waiting in the station.
This is the second such fight this summer involving youths. Earlier in the summer, a 16 year old boy was beaten unconscious by several other boys, all over a pair of Air Jordan shoes. Union Station, where the fight occurred, was shut down for 30 minutes while over a dozen officers responded to the scene.
These incidents have prompted Metro officials to consider a curfew during the summer months for those younger than 18 years old. Other officials have called for greater security measures to combat youth violence in the metro system.
A District curfew already exists that requires youths under the age of 17 to be off the streets by midnight during the summer. This was enacted because of the youth violence, which has been a long-standing problem in the District.
Two 16-year-olds and 18-year-old Angelo Nicholas were charged in the brawl. Nicholas and one of the 16-year-olds were charged with disorderly conduct; the other was charged with simple assault.
Five passengers were taken to the hospital with injuries, with an unknown number of people injured without requiring hospital visits. Some passengers said it took over 15 minutes for police to come, aside from the two Transit Police officers in the station already, according to the Washington Post. Some passengers remarked that the madness seemed almost as though it were a terrorist attack.
The fight brought the concerns of youth violence to the forefront of the political discussion. D.C. Council member Phil Mickelson (D-At Large) stated that extending the curfew would not necessarily prevent fights such as the one Saturday evening and instead called for “a very focused strategy targeted on that problem.”
Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) suggested better communication between D.C. police and transit police. Communication between jurisdictions is complex and uncommon, which makes incidents such as Saturday’s fight more problematic for places like the District, where many police departments operate in the same area.
Comments
This kind of thing is seasonal in case nobody has noticed.
School is fixing to start. It provokes a "quickening" in young minds for a last fling of a carefree summer.
Plus, it's also been very hot. That tends to make EVERYBODY bitchy.
Combine that with a confined space, you've got the perfect storm for disorderly conduct.
x
You left out the active ingredient: Stupid "Ghetto" children... lets not kid ourselves...the problem has a particular shade to it. its cultural its deep and the city is defenseless right now while these people blight our streets.
How Ghetto. Isn't there better things to do, then go around puffing out your chest because you think you're a tough guy.
It's simple. You want the metro to be safer at night? Re-enact the youth curfew. This type of crime is unacceptable in this city.
Damn the excuses! As much as Metro costs now. And with all of the different police agencies that DC has and it takes fifteen minutes to respond to an incident as large as this downtown? Why good night!
@xexon: "This kind of thing is seasonal".
I'm afraid it's not seasonal, it's cultural. Within the last 15 years, there appears to be more sociopathic, aggressive, virulent, anti-social strain sickening a once generally civil society.
This is not due to global warming, or any seasonal disorder. This is clearly due to an inherent lack of respect for life in general by the predators, abusive absent parenting and unchecked mental illness of these children most likely attributed to severe narcotic use by the mother and father during conception and pregnancy.
We have come to a severe impasse in our society that if we see something, we must say something. Taking the responsibility off the assailants will only contribute to the weakening of the sick culture from which they came.
"sick culture"?
A sick culture is one that has not addressed the root cause of such problems.
What are you offering these kids other than condemnation of their backgrounds?
The best way to diplace a problem is to offer something more attractive. Where is it?
x
I think they deserve nothing....what do they contribute? NOTHING... In fact, they impede the progress and threaten the safety of honest people...I wish there was a way to BAN people from society permanently. Shut the gates on them so they can find their own way as barbarians in the wilderness.
Xexon you are as clueless on this matter as you are on the State of Israel. There is NO excuse for what happened on metro. The black community MUST take responsibility for thir children. You talk about the root causes well how about pathetic educational system that continues to churn out illiterates even after spending MORE per student than any other school system in the country. How about NO family life? Fact 70% of black babies are born to single mothers. Fix the problem, curfews now, have the black community accept responsibility for their children, get a government in DC that is not corrupt and will care about the people.
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