Mr. Hassay was threatened with arrest under the “Blocking Passage” section of the D.C. disorderly conduct law (D.C. Code § 22-1307) because he was playing his violin for spare change in Georgetown, even though he was not blocking the sidewalk. We learned that police had threatened to arrest other buskers and panhandlers in Georgetown.
Before litigating, we met with MPD Assistant Chief Diane Groomes and other MPD officials, and they agreed with us that these threats of arrest were improper and that “blocking passage” means blocking passage. They also agreed to better train their troops.
