Gamergate Meet-up, GGinDC, Gets Bomb Scare

15 comments
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Image Via twitter.com/HeatProofLizard

Meet-ups are fantastic things. When you can meet a group of people that you have communicated with online for sometime, the feeling can be amazing. This is exactly what happened in Washinging, DC, as hundreds of video game and media ethics enthusiasts gathered for a meet-up at the Local 16 restaurant on U Street this past Friday. Colloquially dubbed “GGinDC,” the event had press, academics, developers and hundreds of glorious gamers finally getting to meet each other in real-time. This writer was sadly too poor to attend, but the events looked like a blast.

And this is where that last statement turns into a bad joke.

At approx. 12:15am EST, police arrived at Local 16 to evacuate the premise. According to those on the scene, the authorities told those attending it was for a “fire drill” at first. This changed to reports of a possible bomb threat, with event attendee @matthewhale207 stating he was “told by what appeared to be a ranking officer that it was a “Serious threat.’”

We have reached out to the Washington, DC MPD (Metropoliten Police Department) for comment on this. We have yet to receive a response as of the time of publishing, but we will keep this piece updated with their response.

[UPDATE 3:30pm EST 5/3/2015]: Owen Good of Polygon was able to obtain comment from the DC Metropolitan Police Dept. stating,

“The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington D.C. confirmed to Polygon that officers evacuated the restaurant, Local 16, in response to information received from the FBI. A threat made over Twitter said the building would explode, a police spokesman said.”

[UPDATE 5:54pm EST 5/4/2015]: DC MPD confirms these accounts with us stating,

On Friday, May 1, 2015 at 9:30 pm the Metropolitan Police Department received information from the FBI in reference to an individual posting on Twitter that a bomb would be detonated inside of 1602 U Street, NW (Local 16 restaurant and bar) if the event they were having was not postponed . The establishment was hosting a gaming event.

MPD contacted management at the establishment, and the decision was made by the management to evacuate the location and check for hazardous devices.  The establishment was evacuated and the premises was then swept for hazardous materials with nothing found.

The incident remains under investigation.

Any persons with information about this incident are asked to call police at (202) 727-9099, or by texting to 50411.

Until then, we have witness accounts like this from people who attended the event:

 

This comes after earlier attempts on social media to put pressure on Local 16 to shut down the meet-up. Some even going so far as to call the establishment’s owner, pleaing that they not allow the group to gather at the U Street restaurant and bar.

These two events are unconnected as of this time. There is no solid evidence to support their connection, and I really hope that anyone with half a brain cell would know not to waste the time of Washington, DC police and fire department resources to disrupt an event they disagree with. Until we can get confirmation one way or another, I urge our readers to not assign premature blame to one group or another.

 

 

Who ever did this possibly put lives in danger by distracting police resources from any real events occurring. Besides being illegal, it is just a plain cowardly action, whether by a third party troll or someone who disagrees with those who gathered.

Ben Dalton, @TVTokyoBen on Twitter, had this to say,

“It goes without saying that there was never a bomb, and if anything this highlights how easy it is for someone to cause mass panic [on] events they don’t agree with to go on lockdown”

 

 

It’s worth a major note, that despite the turn to the evenings events, the attendees to the “GGinDC” meet-up didn’t let their evening get spoiled by the actions of a coward. Local 16 even re-opened after everything was clear with free shots for all, and many friendly conversations about what Gamergate is.

 

This writer is glad that everyone was safe that night, and is proud that they did not let this scare tactic ruin the event. Extra kudos goes out to the folks at Local 16 for allowing the event despite pressure, and their response to the scare.

 

 

 

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Josh Bray

Josh has worked in IT for over 15 years. Graduated Broadcasting school in 2012 with a focus on A/V production. Amateur photographer with a passion to make things work... by any means necessary. Editor in Chief, Webadmin, Writer, and Producer for SuperNerdLand
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  • Ace Sul

    The bars of Washington DC have seen people of many different political beliefs meet up for drinks. I dare say, some of the bars around Congress have seen a warmonger or two. What kind of idiot would think a bar would be scared of some gamers?

  • Eralun

    Quite a few women for a group that, apparently, wants to remove females from gaming.

    • Josh Bray

      They were all just elaborate holograms placed to give the appearance of representation. They were funded by that right-wing conspiracy to keep Hilary from being President that MovieBob keeps talking about. xD

  • Pingback: GamerGate Goes To DC, Gets Bomb Threat - Not Particularly Pauciloquent()

  • SonofaGlitch

    That bar owner is a real American human bean.

    • Josh Bray

      From all accounts, the owners and employees of Local 16 are wonderful people. That’s the kind of inclusiveness I can get behind. The idea that EVERYONE is welcome, not just those that you don’t agree with ideologically/politically.

  • Ceara

    So video evidence seems to back up what everyone was saying. Everyone was evacuated to the streets, there were cops on the scene, and traffic appears to be backed up and blocked.

    Then it must have been more than just that ONE Twitter threat because I doubt the cops would have wasted their time on a simple Twitter threat since they didn’t bother doing anything when Sarkeesian received her Utah death threat.

    It’s pretty damn coincidental that the threat came so soon after Arthur and other SJWs went on their crusade to stop GG from meeting there. But it could be a 3rd party troll who took advantage of the situation to try to stir up trouble for GG and Arthur, as much as I hate giving Arthur the benefit of the doubt.

    • A Real Libertarian

      Then it must have been more than just that ONE Twitter threat because I doubt the cops would have wasted their time on a simple Twitter threat since they didn’t bother doing anything when Sarkeesian received her Utah death threat.

      They did, they investigated, they found there was no danger, Sarky cancelled anyway.

      • Ceara

        True. What I meant by “didn’t bother doing anything” is they didn’t send police cars to the University and evacuate the building like they did here. I should have been more clear. My apologies.

    • kibu

      The story I heard, though unconfirmed, is that there were several reports, with possibly a call directly to police dispatch reporting that a bomb had been placed in the building and was about to explode. Chu, for his part, has quickly backed away from this, so while it’s unlikely that he did the call himself, it’s probable that one of his followers or supporters did. Ironically, a few of the Anti Gamer Gate crowd have even come out and said “Ok, yeah, that’s not the way to handle this.” Granted, it’s not been in so many words; but people are stopping and going “maybe this is taking things too damn far.”

  • calbeck357

    And there’s already folks who hate #GamerGate, on Twitter, finding excuses for why bomb threats are okay.

    • A Real Libertarian

      Terrorism is bomb threats + power…

      • Josh Bray

        Sadly I even saw folks talking about how Gamergate did it to themselves. Not A LOT of talk about it, but it was out there.

  • Jeremy#2977

    Very encouraging to see the bar owners reaction to all the noise, little bit more of that and this blue marble will be just fine.

  • Mr.Calavera

    Fucking stupid making a bomb treat in DC.