Black Patron Files Lawsuit On Racist Bar! Bar Owner Denies Accusations!

Jonathon Wall, 21 has filed lawsuit against a nightclub after staff threw him out. Wall claims that he was harassed by staff members because he was Black. Wall took his fight to the internet and many across the country are outraged at the establishment and came out in support of Wall and many others patrons who were discriminated by the staff. The owner of the bar denies he was harassing the young man.

Earlier this month, I posted the story of a young Harvard bound man named Jonathon Wall and his horrific experience at a Raleigh nightclub. The club adhere to some strict conduct that appears to be discriminatory towards Black patrons and the young man decides to fight back against the establishment.

Besides a boycott, there's a lawsuit against the bar manager/owner Todd Chriscoe. The owner denies he's been discriminatory towards his customers but yet manages to dig the hole deeper the more he speaks publicly about the ordeal.

Many others have came out in support of Wall. Here's a few videos in relation to this controversy. Courtesy of WRAL, a CBS affiliate of Raleigh, North Carolina. The controversy may be disturbing for some who are reading this here at Journal de la Reyna.

 

A few weeks ago, Wall with some of his friends went to the nightclub. They were stopped by a bouncer and was told that they had to have a membership in order to enter the establishment.
 

Todd Chriscoe is the owner of Downtown Sport Bar & Grill. According to WRAL, Chriscoe has a criminal history. The owner of the bar is accused of harassing and assaulting Jonathan Wall. The young man has filed a lawsuit against the business. The young man spawned a citywide boycott of the establishment and took his fight to the internet to publicly shame this individual. Chriscoe denies he's a racist and his bar treats people discriminatory.

 According to Wall, when a police officer was approaching, the bouncer let them into the establishment without incident. But while entering the bar, the manager Chriscoe was constantly harassing him to buy an alcoholic beverage or leave his establishment. Wall stated that his friend was in the restroom and he will buy something as soon as he and his group were ready. Chriscoe infuriated grabbed Wall and shoved him towards the exit. Wall was thrown out of the establishment. After pleading to the bouncer of the situation, another police officer approached Wall. Wall explained his situation to the officer. The officer stated that she didn't want no part of the conflict and told the young man to ignore the problems.

When Wall told his professor about the encounter, the professor wrote on his personal blog about Wall and the Downtown Sports Bar & Grill and people across the Raleigh-Durham region chimed in on the situation.

Other patrons White and Black spoke out against the bar and thus lead it to the news agitators and it went viral.

One woman says that since her boyfriend and his friend were Black, she could enter but her boyfriend could not enter the establishment. She claimed that because of a collared shirt they were denied entry. She saw a group of White men go into the club with collared shirts.

A Black woman was told that she couldn't enter but some of her friends who were White were allowed entry without incident.

According to WRAL, a CBS affiliate out of Raleigh, North Carolina, the criminal summons, issued on June 22, was served Tuesday against Todd Chriscoe, who manages The Downtown Sports Bar and Grill on Glenwood Avenue.

In the paperwork, Jonathan Wall, 21, accuses Chriscoe, 47, of simple assault and ethnic intimidation. Wall says Chriscoe grabbed his wrists, put them behind his neck, forced him out of the bar and pushed him to the ground.

The criminal summons is based on Wall's accusations before a magistrate and not a police investigation. Raleigh police say they are not investigating the matter because Wall declined to file a police report after speaking with a police sergeant who was on foot in the area.

A hearing in Wake County District Court has been set for July 23.

Wall's attorney, Alesia Vick, said at a news conference last week that Chriscoe confronted Wall in the early hours of June 17 and told him he would have to buy a drink or leave.

When Wall explained that he was waiting on a friend, Vick said, Chriscoe put him in a headlock and forced him out of the bar.

She said there were no other black customers in that part of the bar.

William Potter, an attorney for The Downtown Sports Bar and Grill, has said that Wall was not improperly treated and that he was thrown out of the bar because he was not a member.

Potter has insisted that race had nothing to do with the matter.

Still, Wall's story has prompted numerous other people who are black to come forward, saying they were also treated differently at The Downtown Sports Bar and Grill.

A rally being called "Above It All: A Raleigh Stand Against Social Injustice" is being planned for Saturday, although a location and time have not been finalized.

Other patrons have come to the bar's defense, denying that it discriminates. Nightlife photos taken at the bar, including those by LazyDay.com, show diverse crowds inside.

Accusations of discrimination aren't new for Chriscoe.

In 2001, he co-owned a private club called The Office in downtown Raleigh. The club's strict dress code that prohibited styles of clothing popular among black people.

A WRAL News investigation at the time found that a doorman treated a white couple and a black couple wearing the same brand of clothing differently.

Chriscoe said back then that the matter had nothing to do with race but had more to do with creating an upscale environment and ensuring that patrons of the club felt comfortable.
  

Black Patrons Bring Attention To A North Carolina Bar's Racist Tactics!

Party Like A Rock Star!

In Raleigh, North Carolina, a downtown hole in the wall is literally a-hole! The service is not only rude but the treatment of the patrons who happen to be Black is what gotten this establishment under fire.

Downtown Sports Bar & Grill is the establishment and a Harvard bound Black person is the one who brought this to the attention of the news agitators.

The bar has a list of rules that seem coded to prevent young Black males and some females from enjoying entertainment at this establishment. I guess when you're a Black person and you want to visit Downtown, you're going to have a "membership" before you get in. If you manage to get in, they order you to make at least a $20 purchase of alcoholic beverages or you can leave. Don't worry about those so called gang signs or those trendy hats! You're not allowed to wear them. Nevermind the preppy college kid who happens to be White wearing his North Carolina Blue, you the Black patron can't wear it. If you're caught wearing it, you're out!

Make It Rain, Homie!

Okay, we're at the point of insanity in the age of President Barack Obama. A state that he carried in the 2008 U.S. Elections is now a grab for the Republicans. Issues such as this club and their stupid policies and discrimination to Black patrons is a reason for the unease within our country.

According to news sources and a White professor, this club is now being looked at by the news media. The news has been making the rounds on the local and national blogosphere since North Carolina Central University Professor Philip Christman posted on his blog.

 Jezbel and Gawker have the dirt on this establishment.

Jonathan Wall and two other friends arrived at Downtown Sports Bar and Grill around 12:30 AM. "You need a membership to come in tonight," the bouncer told them. "I've never seen you here before." The friends were confused, since the bar is better known for its all-you-can-eat wings and massive TVs than fancy private parties — and because the people in line before them walked right in after showing their ID.

The only difference between those people and my friends and I was our race. Still, we stood at the door in bewilderment asking "What?" as he further tried to explain that we weren't going to be able to come in because of our "non-member" status. However, as he was explaining this, a police officer walked up to where he was standing to tell him something unrelated. As soon as he caught sight of the officer beside him, he said "Never mind, y'all go ahead." This was the first interesting ordeal of the night, but not the last.

Once inside, Wall was accosted by an employee [who he later learned was the bar's manager] after standing near the bar by himself for a few moments. "Either buy a drink or leave right now," the man told him. Wall said he was waiting for his friend to come back from the bathroom, but man insisted he had to buy a drink right away. When Wall continued to look for his friend, the employee physically attacked him:

After he cleaned the table, it looked as if he was headed back behind the bar when he came up to me and said "Either buy a drink or leave right now." Again shocked, I replied "I'm just waiting for my friend to come back from the bathroom." He responded, "I don't care, get a drink or leave right now." I said "Okay" and began texting. He walked away from me, then went and sat with his back to the bar as he stared me down. Being non-confrontational, I looked towards the bathroom, waiting to see my friend come out so that we could leave. I also took notice of how many of the people surrounding the bar and the club area didn't have drinks in their hands. I felt as if I was singled out. The common denominator, again, was that I was the only black person around. After staring me down for about 30 seconds, he walked back over and said "Are you going to buy a drink, or are you going to leave?" I replied, "As soon as my friend comes from the bathroom." Before I cold utter another word, he grabbed my right wrist and my left arm and threw them behind my head in an effort to constrain me, although I was speaking to him a calm and non-aggressive tone and didn't once even gesture. He then used excessive force to push me through the crown and out of the club while I was still in this "headlock" of sorts, before pushing me out of the front door. As soon as he grabbed me, I let my body go limp because with the degree of force he was already using, I didn't want him to think I was trying to fight back. I accepted that he was on an ego-trip, and let him guide me through the club in this position before pushing me out. I was completely shocked and more saddened that this was happening than angry.

When Wall tried to tell the bouncer what had happened, he waved him away and told him to get lost. Upset "that what I believed to have been blunt and undeniable segregation was taking place in an establishment in Raleigh, the city I was born, raised in, and love," Wall sought out a nearby police officer, who told him "this was a very unfortunate occurrence, but not an isolated instance":

She explained that this happens all the time, and that if she approached the bartender about it, he'd have witnesses that would corroborate whatever story he made up as to why he kicked me out in such an aggressive manner. She then explained that my options were limited because if she proceeded with getting statements from both of us and conducted an investigation, the end result could be worse for me: either it would get dismissed in court, or we would both be charged with what is the equivalent of "fighting" and both have a misdemeanor. She said "He probably has a few charges already, but you're young with a bright future ahead of you, and you don't want that on your record."

Wall wasn't sure "whether I should trust a police officer within the network of bouncers/officers who worked the many clubs/bars of Glennwood" until the man who threw him out stepped outside of the bar and he pointed him out to the officer, who approached him:

They talked for about 3 minutes before she came back to me and said, "I knew this was going to happen. Now, I don't believe him one bit, but he says that he has three people who witnessed you throw an elbow at him before he restrained you." Shocked is an understatement. As I said earlier, I talked in a non-confrontational, clam [sic] and respectful tone, and didn't even gesture when talking. There is no way that he could have perceived me as having thrown an elbow and I didn't understand how three people would lie and say that I did. I asked the officer about video camera footage. If the club used cameras, they would show the conversation, and his aggressiveness in constraining me despite me posing no threat and remaining calm throughout the conversation and his constraining me. She said that it would require a search warrant and that there was "No telling" how the video could be edited, tampered with, or even done away with before it would be required to be handed over to the investigators.

Wall was frustrated by the officer's complacency:

What troubled me about my conversation with the officer was that she seemed to assume the worst case scenario in every possible solution to my encounter. She kept talking about how much paper work would be involved, as if that were going to deter me from seeking justice. Still, it was 2am, and after speaking to both of my parents and my friends, I realized that justice couldn't be served that night. Because of the lack of witnesses, it would simply be my word versus his (and that of his three "witnesses"), which could potentially yield extremely negative consequences for me, even though I had done nothing wrong throughout the entirety of the ordeal.

After Wall told his family about his night, his 21-year-old cousin called him and asked the name of the bar that had thrown him out. She gasped when he told her it was Downtown Sports Bar and Grill, because she had been barred from entering the same spot earlier that night. "The only common denominator in her and my own dealings with the bar was one single factor: race," Wall wrote. "We were both African-Americans trying to enter and enjoy a bar that seemed to only welcome those not like us."

Since legal action seemed futile, Wall used his social media skills instead, tweeting and emailing his story to everyone he could think of. There are almost 200 comments on the post Christman wrote yesterday, many written by Raleigh residents who say they've been discriminated against because of their race. For example:

The same thing happened when my boyfriend (who is black), his 2 friends, (who are black), his other 2 friends (who are Iranian), and I (I'm mixed) went there. Except that a cop was standing right next to the bouncer and heard him say that we needed a membership to get in. I had been let in numerous times before when I went with my other friends, but this time got rejected. I was livid because that line is used when bouncers don't want to let someone in. And nowhere does it say membership is required to enter into Downtown Sports Bar. I've decided to boycott it.

I have experienced being turned away by the membership tactic. (I am black). Right after I was turned away three girls (all white) came up and went right in.

omgee, same thing happened to me on saturday! my friends always try to get me to go and I finally said yes. the first 3 [one mixed , 2 white] weren't carded; however me and the fifth friend were ! was told I was using a fake & dont even know the excuse she was given. we were both black, btw .

As a white female, I visited downtown sports a year ago and witnessed the EXACT same thing. I was horrified, tried talking to the bouncer (who didn't want to hear a word from me) and was pushed back into a crowded room. I have never been back.

The same thing happened to me and my friends at Downtown Sports Bar! My two friends and I, all of us white, got in no problem. However my boyfriend and his friend, both black, were turned away for not having on collared shirts. After they were denied entry, we stood outside and witnessed 5 white males being let in that had on regular t-shirts just like my friends did!!! Absolutely disgusting, I truly hope the news will do an investigation.

WOW…I had an issue with this place too…As I walked up i watched short white guy walk up to the black bouncer and whisper something…i kind of figured something was about to happen…I was not allowed in for the dumbest reason ever…."My Shirt was to long"…the damn shirt stopped at the top of my zipper and it was a tailored button up…i offered to tuck the shirt in and they still refuse to allow me in…i stood back shocked as two white guys with baggy jeans and sneakers walk in…i pointed out 2 guys with longer button ups than i had on and i was told they were allowed in earlier that day and we have a night dress code…i was pissed…my friend was said "just tell him he cant come in because he's black.

One early commenter, 21-year-old Karimah Shepherd, had a similar experience at the bar — down to the "membership" excuse, the furious manager, and the lackadaisical police response — and started a Facebook group after coming across Wall's story. Less than 24 hours later, it has almost 3,000 members. She told us that their goal is to garner media attention, and it's working: a local newspaper is planning a front page story,

WRAL is investigating the incident, and a large protest at the bar is planned for next Saturday. Shepherd said at least 50 people have emailed her about their own horrible Downtown Sports Bar and Grill experiences. "It's shocking how much support we've gained in such a short time," she said, sounding overwhelmed.

The one local outlet that's covered the story, New Raleigh, identified the man who threw Wall out as Todd Chriscoe, the bar's manager. Chriscoe, whose name comes up often in the other commenters' complaints, is no stranger to the law: his rap sheet is peppered with misdemeanors and felonies. So why don't police take the numerous allegations against him more seriously?

There are some Black patrons who took their campaign to shut the business down to Facebook. And it's gotten a whole lot of attention. We'll keep you posted on the results of this controversy here on Journal de la Reyna.