The Hotel Harrington and its companion Harry’s Bar will close for a three day period around the January 6 pro-Trump in Washington, D.C. The move comes after the hotel was called out by local liberal activists, elected officials and the Washington Post for serving as an unofficial headquarters for the Proud Boys during recent pro-Trump marches. The hotel bar was also fined by the D.C. government for not enforcing coronavirus mask mandates on weekends when the Proud Boys were there en masse.
The hotel will close January 4,5 and 6. Harry’s Bar will close the 5th and 6th.
The Proud Boys drew negative attention during the last pro-Trump protest by stealing Black Lives Matter banners from downtown Black churches and burning them near the hotel.
Excerpt from the Post article published Sunday night that got the desired result within 24 hours.
…Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, said in an interview, that in the past, the group’s members have stayed at the Harrington and frequented Harry’s because they’re accessible to downtown D.C. and close to the Trump hotel and the White House.
He said that the corner in front of the hotel and bar has remained a gathering point for the Proud Boys, but that the group had outgrown Harry’s because it wasn’t big enough to accommodate all of its members who attended the most recent protest, which he said numbered about 1,000.
Tarrio said the group’s members would not stay at the hotel or go to the bar if the businesses asked them to stay away.
…D.C. police spent much of the night trying to keep the groups apart and at one point established a police line along 15th Street NW. Unable to break through the barrier, a group of Proud Boys doubled back to the hotel holding a Black Lives Matter banner from a nearby church. They carried it in front of the Harrington and lit it on fire as members circled the flames yelling and hooting.
City officials later said four churches in downtown D.C. had Black Lives Matters signs removed and damaged. Tarrio told The Washington Post he was among those responsible for tearing down and burning the signs.
For the most part, police were successful in keeping the groups apart, but there were skirmishes. At least four people were stabbed during a melee near Harry’s. Police have declined to comment on the political affiliations of those involved.
The Post also reported there is a campaign to get other D.C. hotels to not rent rooms to any Trump supporters:
Downtown hotels also received calls and emails from D.C. residents and activists imploring them to deny service to visiting Trump supporters.
ShutDown DC organizers said they will continue to lobby business owners and city officials to do more. Harry’s, they said, will remain priority No. 1. The group launched an online petition this week calling on ABRA to revoke the bar’s liquor license.
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