Seattle wants to shut down all of the hookah lounges in the city because of ongoing violence near the clubs. The most recent example was the murder of Donnie Chin, a well-liked community figure in Seattle’s International District. But, club owners say it’s unfair to punish them for what happens outside their establishments.
At a news conference packed with Somali and International District community members, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray highlighted the problems with the hookah lounges, which the city contends are illegal because indoor smoking is against the law.
Three homicides over 18 months as well as over 100 fights and disturbances have occurred near smoking lounges, according to the city.
“Last year, I spoke with a woman whose son was fatally shot outside a hookah lounge in the International District. Halim Ujama met with me at the funeral home on the day of her son’s funeral. She is one of many people in the community urging me to close these establishments,” Murray said.
Murray said, until recently, the city didn’t have an enforcement mechanism to pull the business license of a club. A new law now gives the city that authority.
In conjunction with the mayor's announcement of a crackdown on hookah lounges, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes filed a criminal complaint against Kings Hookah Lounge, the club near where Chin died.
Kings Hookah is charged with failing to pay business taxes.
In the hallway outside the Mayor’s news conference, one hookah lounge owner spoke out against the move to shut all the clubs down.
Nebil Mohammed owns Medina Hookah Lounge in the International District. Like many of the clubs, he caters to an east African clientele. He contends what he does is legal because it is a members-only private club and he doesn’t serve food or alcohol.
He says his hookah lounge is part of an ancient tradition where people come together to smoke and play cards.
“I believe the underlying problem is not the hookah lounges, it’s the youth problem,”Mohammed said.
In other words, he sees it as a problem of young immigrant youth with no job prospects and little to do.
But, many in the Somali community spoke out in favor of shutting the clubs down.
While no one could say why there seems to be so much violence outside the hookah lounges, some Somali leaders suggested that young people are smoking more than just tobacco in the clubs and end up getting into fights.
When asked if the violence outside hookah lounges is worse than what occurs outside bars, Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole said she didn't have statistics on that. Mayor Ed Murray said the difference is that what is going on inside the bars, consumption of alcohol, is legal, but the main activity in a hookah lounge, smoking, is not legal indoors.
