The D.C. government organized what it called a "safe" Friday night event for teenagers at Banneker Recreation Center. A reporter who walked through the crowd tells a very different story: the night ended with fights, police racing through the neighborhood, and a masked teenager firing a gun.
Late Night Hype is a summer program run by the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). The July 24 event was scheduled from 7 PM to 11 PM at the Banneker Recreation Center Fields for teenagers between 13 and 18. Registration was required, and the rules explicitly prohibited masks.
DPR describes the program as a series of supervised, carnival-style gatherings featuring music, dancing, video games, food and other activities; a wholesome vision that apparently didn't make it into the event itinerary. Mayor Muriel Bowser's (D) administration promoted the events in June as part of its summer programming for children and families.
The city's pitch didn't quite match reality:
“Late Night Hype is a fun, safe space for District teens to gather and have a great time. Learn more, register, or sign up...”
Daily Wire intern Leona Salinas offered a sharply different account after stumbling into the middle of the July 24 gathering. Salinas had just left dinner near LeDroit Park when police cars began arriving, and hundreds of teenagers flooded the streets from every direction.
An 18-year-old attendee identified as Mekala told Salinas that DPR had organized the gathering and promoted its events to teenagers through Instagram. Another attendee described robberies and fights as common occurrences at the gatherings.
Salinas wrote:
Attendees knew what was coming. Mekala said that at most of these events the teens ‘go overboard’ and take it ‘to the next level.’
Salinas followed the group through alleys as fights repeatedly broke out. When she moved toward one fight to record it, the crowd suddenly ran in the opposite direction. Seconds later, she said, she watched a masked teenager fire a gun.
She later spoke with a police officer who confirmed that an investigation into the discharge of a firearm had been opened and that multiple shots had been reported. Salinas said she submitted her video to authorities and later watched officers arrest the teenager she had seen fire the first shot. Metropolitan Police had not released additional information about the incident when her account was published.
DPR also did not respond to the Daily Wire’s request for comment.
D.C. officials have dealt with similar gatherings for months, and Navy Yard has been ground zero for it. In March, approximately 200 teenagers flooded the neighborhood near the Metro station. Police recorded multiple assaults and robberies, including one in which a juvenile was stripped of his shoes and jacket. A 15-year-old fired a gun into the air inside a park, and a 16-year-old was arrested later that night after allegedly attempting to discard another firearm. Officers made two arrests and recovered two guns.
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That was not an isolated incident. Navy Yard has been hit repeatedly, with local and national news outlets and local business owners all documenting the same pattern: hundreds of juveniles descend on the neighborhood, fights break out, guns appear, and residents and diners scatter. Businesses along the waterfront have pleaded with city officials for answers. The response has been largely the same each time: statements, promises, and another takeover the following weekend. It got bad enough that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced new federal enforcement measures specifically targeting teen takeovers in the District.
I used to live in Navy Yard. One of my earliest memories there is from March 2021, when two teenage girls carjacked and killed a 66-year-old Uber Eats driver named Muhammad Anwar just across the street from Nats Park. You could not pay me to move back into that neighborhood.
The city has three more Late Night Hype events scheduled for July 31, August 7, and August 14. DPR says the program provides supervised spaces where teenagers can enjoy themselves close to home. Mayor Bowser's office has had months of warnings, dozens of incidents, a federal crackdown, and a dead Uber Eats driver. At some point, "fun programs and events" have to give way to basic accountability, and that moment is long overdue.
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