Hollingsworth challenges Flaggs’ and Moore’s approach

The Event Place owner, Daryl Hollingsworth, is not happy with his property being shut down by Vicksburg Police Chief Milton Moore and Mayor George Flaggs Jr.

Moore ordered the location closed until Hollingsworth met with Flaggs and himself. Hollingsworth said Thursday he was told by Moore that he was “on vacation and wouldn’t be back until Wednesday [Aug. 28]. Then they told me the mayor was busy until Friday morning at 9 a.m. They’ve had me shut down for almost a week.”

City Attorney Nancy Thomas stated the city ordinance commonly called the “Nuisance Law” gives the police chief the authority to shutter a business after the police investigate. Hollingsworth said he was told the business was shuttered after the event last Saturday night.

Hollingsworth is the landowner, not the business operator. The business operator, DeJane Hill, had security at the event, was properly bonded and had event insurance.

According to Hill, there was no fight or problem inside the venue.

Hollingsworth stated that the Aug. 24 evening event ended between 10:15 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The event planner was in the process of clearing tables and folding them to be put away. There were people lingering outside, but most had left the party inside.

At 10:37 p.m. a call was placed to 911 stating there was a fight in the street. The fight was up the block from The Event Place near the corner of Washington and South streets. By 10:42 p.m. the fight had ended, and the crowd was dispersing.

A moment or two later, five shots rang out. The echos of the gunshots downtown made identifying the exact location difficult. Some thought it was on Washington Street, others thought it was on Walnut. A concerned citizen found several shell casings the following day at South and Walnut.

The red marker shows the location where the shells casings were found. The Event Place is located where the Michel’s Record Shop blue marker appears.

In the meeting Hollingsworth and Hill had with Moore, Flaggs, City Attorney Nancy Thomas and others this morning, Moore stated that the fight was in the building and “spilled out into the street,” according to two people who attended the meeting.

The Vicksburg Daily News attempted to clarify the laws allowing the city to shutter a business and the responsibility of property owners to leased events. A search of city and state ordinances revealed that no such ordinance exists. “It is based on case law,” said City Attorney Thomas. “The chief can close a business until their investigation can be closed.”

When asked, Thomas could not say how long a reasonable investigation would take for an event like this.

This morning DeJane Hill, the tenant at Hollingsworth’s building, signed a memo of understanding with the city to improve security at events.

The city has also requested other local businesses that have had incidents sign MOUs; however, the shooting at What-A-Burger in October 2018 did not require a memo of understanding from the operators of the business. In April 2018, the KFC on Clay had an off-duty employee shoot at a car that had gone through the drive-through but that business also was not forced to sign a memo of understanding. The city was unable to offer an explanation why the two national chains remained open after shootings while local businesses were shut down.

Hollingsworth suggested the closure was personal because he ran against Flaggs in 2013 and 2017 in the mayoral elections.

“The mayor is grandstanding at me and my businesses expense,” Hollingsworth said.

In response, Mayor Flaggs stated: “Daryl doesn’t like me.”

“I like him fine,” said Hollinsworth about Flaggs, “I just don’t think, as Police Commissioner, he is doing a good job with crime. We have many very good police officers here who we admire greatly. They need leadership.”

Said City Attorney Nancy Thomas: “We are all about preventing further occurrences so that Vicksburg stays safe.”

Police Chief Milton Moore has refused repeated requests to comment on this or other stories.