DC 9 club which was closed due to the death of 27-year-old Ethiopian Ali Ahmed Mohammed to re-open on Dec 5th.

By Sommer Mathis(TBD.com)

The city's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has decided to allow the nightclub DC9 to re-open on Dec. 15.

A status hearing was held today on the club's license, which was suspended indefinitely after five of the club's employees were arrested for assault in relation to a man's death outside of the club in October.

Those charges have since been dropped, and the liquor board was weighing whether DC9 employees ran afoul of liquor laws when they ran after and laid hands on 27-year-old Ali Ahmed Mohammed. Mohammed had thrown a brick through the front window of the club.

 As part of the deal, DC9 co-owner Joe Englert agreed not to employ any of the five men, Bill Spieler, Evan Preller, Arthur Zaloga, Reginald Phillps, and Darryl Carter, in any of his bars (he owns or co-owns many across the city) at least until a Jan. 19 ABC Board status hearing.

Another condition placed on the bar's re-opening was a mandate to hire a reimbursable police detail to be posted during the time the bar is open, also until at least Jan. 19. A representative for the Office of the Attorney General told the board she expects that an autopsy report will be available from the D.C. medical examiner before the next status hearing.

Outside the building, about 20 protesters gathered with signs that expressed their outrage at the ruling. "No more DC9," they chanted.

"We will not be 100 percent satisfied until DC9 is shut down permanently," says Aman Deka, who also promised to protest outside the bar should Englert decide to re-open. Read more