President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of policing in the nation’s capital, billed as a crackdown on violent crime, is sending shockwaves through the city’s LGBTQ nightlife. Bar owners say sales have collapsed, patrons are staying home, and workers are carrying passports and legal documents just to walk the streets.
Mark Rutstein, co-owner of Crush Dance Bar, told The Advocate, “This whole thing is being billed as a violent crime crackdown, but it’s just an immigration sweep.”
Recently, Federal and local agencies staged checkpoints on 14th Street, leading to 45 arrests, out of which 29 were immigration-related. Rutstein said Homeland Security agents were even seen pulling a Latino man into an unmarked vehicle. The visible police presence triggered protests and what he calls “customer flight.” Sales at Crush dropped 75 percent on Thursday and were down by more than half on Friday. Dave Perruzza, owner of Pitchers and A League of Her Own, described his bar as “a desert.” He estimated a loss of $7,000 in one night, saying, “That’s not sustainable.”
At Bunker, a popular underground club, co-owner Q Edwin said federal agents have been stopping cars, demanding IDs, and intimidating patrons. A U.S. Army veteran himself, Edwin now carries his passport when driving in the city. He said, “Even the ones that have green cards or work permits are scared to come to work.”
Trump has defended his actions by citing violent crime data, but city records show crime is at historic lows. Rutstein calls the president’s claims “unequivocally false.”
For now, D.C.’s queer bar owners say they’re training staff, consulting lawyers, and doing whatever they can to keep nightlife safe. But as Rutstein summed it up, the mood is “Panicked.”
