Parking enforcement officer kicks down vendor table at Adams Morgan Day

A parking enforcement officer kicked a vendor’s table at 9:00 a.m. in front of Marie Reed Elementary School during Adams Morgan Day, according to a vendor coordinator for the festival.

The vendor coordinator told The Wash that two vendors set up their booths in front of a Capital Bikeshare docking station. The officer told the vendors they needed to relocate, but according to the vendor coordinator, Adams Morgan Day organizers had a permit to use the space in front of the docking stations. The coordinator declined to offer her name because of privacy concerns.

Vendors Kyra and Zach tried to reason with the officer and moved their booths to provide access to parts of the docking station. According to Kyra, this wasn’t enough. The officer became confrontational.

Citing privacy concerns, Kyra and Zach declined to provide their last names.

“He (the officer) said, ‘You need to shut up because you’re making it worse,’” Kyra told The Wash. After a heated verbal disagreement between Kyra and the officer, the officer kicked Zach’s table to the ground.

Kyra said the last thing a vendor wants is for “someone from the city acting like they’re crazy.”

“It seems like he came in here just wanting to cause problems,” Kyra said.

The vendors asked a vendor coordinator for guidance while the parking enforcement officer brought a nearby police officer to the scene. The vendor coordinator said that the parking enforcement officer was “just being rude.”

The police officer confirmed to the vendors that the Adams Morgan Day permit allowed vendors to park in front of the docking stations, according to Kyra.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, no official police report of the incident was filed. No photos were taken of the parking enforcement officer.

Parking enforcement told The Wash that parking enforcement officers don’t regulate parking on Sundays unless there is a special event; if the event has a permit for the space, the officer cannot force the vendors to move, even if they are blocking Capital Bikeshare docking stations.

According to Kristen Barden, executive director of the Adams Morgan Partnership BID, around  7,000 people attended Adams Morgan Day.

The event was scattered all across the neighborhood: reggae played at Kalorama Park, artists sang at Jubilee Plaza, and vendors, sports clubs, and activist groups set up tents in the Marie Reed Elementary School Artisan Stroll.