D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she had “some regrets” about the controversy surrounding the closing — then later opening — of Dupont Circle Park for the weekend’s WorldPride-related events, but during a news conference Monday defended police response to violence that erupted.
Two teenagers were involved in a stabbing at Dupont Circle Park on Saturday, and there was a shooting in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
Across the District, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said there were 15 arrests over the course of the entire weekend involving “affrays,” a legal term referring to fights, assaults and assaults with dangerous weapons.
Bowser said she tried to balance the desires of the community to keep open Dupont Circle Park — a deeply symbolic site for D.C.’s LGBTQ+ community — with safety concerns. Bottom line, she said, “We have to listen to the police, we have to listen to law enforcement.”
Regarding police performance during all of WorldPride, Smith said, “Everything that happened around the city that was associated with WorldPride was successful.”
Smith also said she stands by the city’s process in coming to a decision on whether or not to keep the park open.
“I don’t have any regrets. I support the Mayor and her decision and my job is one job and that is to provide public safety for the city and I will continue to do that,” she said.
For Bowser, the violence that did occur is not indicative of the city’s ultimate decision and its ability to manage events.
“I don’t think we’re trying to prove anything to anybody. Nobody here cares any more about the public safety of our citizens than we do,” Bowser said. “People should be able to go to a park during Pride. OK? So you can ask me questions, you can ask MPD questions, but we also have to focus on why somebody thought it was OK to bring a gun to that celebration.”
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