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No matter how obnoxious an ejected bar patron gets, a doorman shouldn't just kick him in the balls, board concludes

The Boston Licensing Board today formally warned Bodega, 69 Canal St., that the correct response for a staffer being harassed by somebody who'd just been ejected is to call 911, not kick him in the crotch.

Commissioner Liam Curran initially wanted to suspend the bar's liquor license for a day, but commissioners Kathleen Joyce and Keeana Saxon convinced him to issue a formal warning - its second to the bar since another staff-on-patron incident in 2018.

At a hearing on Tuesday, police said a man who'd been kicked out of the bar late on Oct. 2, got in the face of a staff member as he stood outside for roughly 15 minutes. The doorman told police the man began insulting him for being a Muslim, then a scuffle broke out when the man claimed he was going to his car to get a gun and the doorman tried to stop him.

Arriving police officers found the man with "visible lacerations to his nose and left cheek," one officer told the board.

The man, who attended the hearing, said he was waiting for his girlfriend and two friends to come out and said he couldn't have been going to his car to get a gun since he didn't have a car - he said he finally got tired of waiting and started to walk away to meet an Uber he'd called And he denied insulting the bouncer's religion, saying he simply told him "I love you, man," in Arabic. He said the bouncer beat him up, including kicking him in his genitals, that he required a couple of weeks of medical care and is still receiving therapy for the trauma.

The man acknowledged that in his roughly 2 1/2 hours sitting at the bar, he'd had two or three beers, an Old Fashioned, a shot and a mixed drink. "I wasn't sober but i wouldn't say I was belligerent or extremely intoxicated," he said.

Because of the alleged anti-Muslim insults, a detective from the BPD civil-rights unit was assigned to the case, but he told the board the bouncer declined to seek charges.

At today's meeting, Curran said that on video supplied by the bar, "you actually see the kick alleged by the victim," and that it seemed like the doorman was really warming up for a full-throttled attack a bit down the street, once he knew he'd be out of camera range. "I found it quite disturbing," he said.

Joyce said the patron was drunk and did not appear "in the right state of mind," but that "despite his actions, I don't think the staff acted appropriately; they should not have reacted with physical force."

Instead of letting him just stand there insulting and haranguing the doorman for 15 minutes, somebody from Bodega should have called police to deal with him, she said.

Under the board's penalty system, should Bodega get cited again for police, after what are now two warnings, the board could suspend its license for a day.

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Comments

one warning should have been sufficient

and the bouncer should be indicted for A&B

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The piece of (expletive) he kicked in the junk said that he had a gun. I don't fault the bouncer one bit for defending himself against a shooting. He found one way to do it.

It appears that gun violence is a joke to Liam Curran...but hey, it's not like sheer obstinance was ever a barrier to participation in the Boston Licensing Board.

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There's no evidence that the victim said he had a gun in his car other than the doorman's word, and he had incentive to lie to justify his actions. The victim says he couldn't have been going to his car to get a gun since he didn't have a car - if that means he doesn't own one, that's easily checked. Someone saying you said you were going somewhere else to get a gun isn't enough evidence for arrest or indictment.

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I'm glad we're taping everything these days.

It's possible both sides are scummy liars. Just like Rittenhouse mowing down the pedo! Pass the popcorn, and appreciate that the pedo is dead.

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How the hell would the bouncer know whether this guy had a car or not, or a gun or not? He's supposed to wait for the guy to walk 10 minutes down the road and then another 10 minutes for him to walk back, shoot the bouncer, and then probably go inside and commit a mass shooting for lulz? BPD isn't about to show up in that window with their swat team.

In this day and age when somebody's drunk and belligerent and threatens to involve a gun especially at a busy place of business like a nightclub, that person should be treated as an immediate and deadly threat. It's 2023 not 1999, enough incidences of gun violence happen every single month that it's no joke.

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This used to be an Irish bar that I often visited.

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Let's just say that balls were generally handled with care there.

That said, at 119 Merrimac, a few blocks over, you might find those seeking CBT.

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

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No, not quite...

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OK, I'll be the one to ask. What was at 119 Merrimac?

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Somewhat of a leather oriented clientele

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Kicks another man in the balls?

One of the most flagrant violations of guy code you’ll see.

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there is no such thing as “guy code”.

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If I'm being accosted by a drunk/drugged dude, I'm going all Adam Vinatieri on that ball bag to immobilize them.

The Navy taught me to punch the throat but I definitely have better wing span and feel more confident using my legs.

"And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger ... " Sam Jackson

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I’m surprised he was able to hit them, the types of guys who threaten/brag/obsess over guns usually don’t have much in that department.

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A guy who is fighting to win a serious fight, not to impress his bros.

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Which guy code? Some would say that drinking to excess and/or picking a fight are both violations of the guy code, too, if such a thing existed.

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Share a link to the "video supplied by the bar" where "you actually see the kick alleged by the victim," and that it seemed like the doorman was really warming up for a full-throttled attack a bit down the street, once he knew he'd be out of camera range"

You can tee up a video like that and NOT share it.

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So you'd have to ask them to see it. They might make you fill out a public-records request first, though.

They don't air their videos during their meetings so, no, I don't have a copy.

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