Legendary and famous Zennie62 YouTube viral video from July 4th, 2009, Fillmore Jazz Festival San Francisco, remembered 14 years later.
San Francisco – Saturday July 4th 2009 was a great day to be out-and-about in the San Francisco Bay Area. A tradition shared by many in the SF Bay Area is to attend the Fillmore Jazz Festival, which is a good 10 blocks of music, food, and fun.
One of the favorite stops along the stretch of the street is Harry’s Bar at 2020 Fillmore (and still going strong today), which serves up a great combination of beautiful people dancing and socializing to funk and rock music. After hanging with friends inside, a group of friends of this author and this author ventured outside as it was just too hot inside. he outdoor weather was better.
We would go to Harry’s each year for July 4th — except we didn’t see Monte Poole that year — so this author is used to the vibe during the festival. Give the staff a lot of credit for keeping the crowd at a manageable level; not that it was ever out of control in the past, or this year for that matter. But in past years one could not even pass through the place with ease; not so on Saturday. The relative calm of the party made the incident that unfolded hard to explain and all the more, well, weird.
How The Fight On Fillmore Started
There was a patron that was giving the Bouncer and the patrons inside a real hard time as the video will show; a guy with a “3″ on his back. At first I ignored him and talked to my fellow Oakland friend on the curb, but given the way he was behaving — at first taunting the bouncer to fight, but then more and more relentlessly so — I could not do so. I activated my camera and just stood on the curb holding it up.
The Bouncer had told the patron to leave as he had too much to drink, was beligerent, and had been given a number of warnings. For a beat, it actually looked like “Number 3″ (as I will call him) was going to just walk away. But something happened — for some reason it was really important for him to get back in the bar — and he started to ask the bouncer “Are you black or white” (the bouncer’s black as is the patron), and he repeated the question again and again. The bouncer said “As long as you stay back away from the door you can say anything.” For many of the onlookers, the patron was a source of comic relief; a woman walked up and started dancing sexily behind “Number 3″. We kept saying “Turn around. It’s more fun behind you.” But he didn’t. Number 3 was locked in on the person he believed to be his tormentor: the Bouncer.
There were several voices asking for someone to call the police, and another voice said “they’ve been called.” (Don’t know if there were any Twitter tweets at the time.) Still the police never came. The bouncer asked for the police to be called. Nothing. Not even security. At that point, “Number 3″ decided to violate the space the bouncer told him to avoid and pointed his finger right in the bouncer’s face. To this author, it seemed like he was about to hit the bouncer. So the Bouncer took a look at his partner, and then kind of grabbed him and put him into a choke hold, and that’s when the sad social show started.
The Social Circle Around The Choke Hold In Front Of Harry’s Bar San Francisco
As the video shows, the Bouncer (who’s name was later revealed as Anthony but no last name) has the man we call “Number 3″ immediately in a choke hold, but as he did, another Harry’s Bar Bouncer (visible in the video as a white male brunette) tried to take “Number 3″’s leg and stretch them out for some reason. When Anthony grabbed him, the pair wound up falling to the ground in such a way that “Number 3″ head made contact with the pavement hard enough for blood to be visible.
As that was going on, another man in the video who was of Ethopean heritage and wearing a t-shirt with “LOVE” on the front, raised his arms and announced that there was a fight. Then, four men, all white, started arguing among themselves because one wanted Anthony to stop choke holding him, while another, a red head, can be heard saying “Leave him alone, Man.” As that was happening, people who were standing in line to get in to Harry’s were watching – not a large group. And an African American heavy-set woman with a headdress and pink blouse can be seen coming outside and sitting down on the large flower-pot. Once she did, the woman looked directly and calmly at Anthony and said “Are you trying to kill him?” Anthony said “I’m going to hold him until the police arrive.”
As Anthony continued to hold “Number 3”, another patron, a young white brunette man with short cropped hair and a face the cross between the late actor John Beluchi and Franc D’Ambrosio who starred in the Godfather Part III, said to this vlogger, “That dude”, referring to “Number 3″, was making ‘snake eyes'” at him and other people at the bar. Indeed, “Number 3” got drunk and became an unwelcome and harassing guest. He was asked to go outside because of his behavior, tried to come back in, but was stopped by Anthony.
Eventually, the security representatives for the Festival (not an SF Police Officer) did come and take “Number 3” away.
Later “Number 3” Was Released And This Vlogger Saw Him Over On Jackson Street
About a good hour later and as the Festival was closing, this vlogger went over to the Starbucks and was on the way to what was to be a walk to The Balboa Cafe, the popular bar and restaurant part-owned by the man who later became our current California Governor, Gavin Newsom.
While I walking along Fillmore and downhill toward The Marina District, a sudden roar came from uphill on Jackson Street, which crosses Fillmore. It was “Number 3”, obviously out of custody, and who was in the process of tipping over a large garbage bin that was placed on the side of the street. One could see it rollover as “Number 3” yelled out like he was “The Hulk”, then started walking down Jackson, and then turned on Fillmore , in the Direction of Harry’s Bar, a good two blocks away. Where he went is not known to this day, or even what happened to him. Harry’s had closed by the time he got there, if he did.
The Lesson That Applies To Today: How To Defuse Violence
For all of the mayhem that happened at Harry’s Bar, we have to ask one question: how could that situation have been avoided. One question that always enters the head of this author is “Did Anthony have to place Number 3 in a choke hold?” The cold fact is that while Number 3 was selling wolf tickets, he never hit anyone.
Moreover, Anthony drawing a line and daring Number 3 to cross it, then grabbing him first and placing him in a choke hold was assault. The open question is if Anthony had said to the man “The problem is the owners don’t want you in and the police have been called, and they may arrest you. Can you sit down for a bit and just cool off”, would he have just walked away or sat down?
But the other fact is this: the guy was looking for a fight, and it’s a fair bet that, as drunk as he was, he would have started something in the establishment. There was no other security, which was the fault of the Festival, as it was quite clear something was brewing before the fight started. Indeed, they called and called for help – nothing.
So, they left Anthony and one other person to deal with the guy, and Anthony made a decision to hold him until the police arrived – that called for a well-applied choke hold. And, as reported, law enforcement did arrive, even if they did not hold him overnight for clear public drunkeness.
The Aftermath Of The Fight: MSNBC’s Caught On Camera Makes The Event News
The video, now seen about 3 million times, started out viral, before growing more. This is what was written over at Zennie62blog.com back in 2011:
This video was originally made as part of a ColoursTV segment that never made it to the screen. But that’s the reason for the introduction you see. The video itself was and is a kind of study of human nature, and there are stories within the overall story of the encounter between a patron who had a little too much to drink and a bouncer just trying to do his job.
The video has drawn over 3,000 comments and over 700,000 views – actually closer to 800,000 views. And it drew the attention of NBC. I met the crew for the show Caught On Camera where we filmed a segment talking about the video.
Does the almost three-year-old video put the Fillmore Jazz Festival in a bad light? No. It doesn’t. By just holding the patron until security arrived, the bouncer may have prevented a really ugly melee in front of a storied establishment.
Moreover, the bouncer’s actions have been the catalyst for a number of emails from former police officers, bartenders, and other bouncers, who explain how hard that job is, especially during a large-scale event, how they believed the bouncer did his job well, and how the situation should be prevented in the future.
Here’s one such email from 2009:
Dear Mr. Abraham,
I just watched the video from the Fillmore Festival. As a retired police officer(Commander of Police) with 32+yrs experience with the SFPD encounters like this are common place in and around nightclubs in the City. Violent confrontations are taking place daily. The SF Entertainment Commission which oversees the Clubs have not taken a proactive approach to minimizing these actions.
Bouncers, doormen, security staff, and floor persons need training. Training should include but not limited to:powers of arrest, use of force, conflict resolution, how to call the police, handling emergency situations, etc.
In this case I agree with you additional staff should have been called and the police should have been notified immediately. The Bouncer could have place Number 3 under arrest for disturbing the peace(threatening to fight). I do think he used reasonably objective force to detain him. But once the Bouncer used any force Number 3 should have been arrested
If you decide to pursue this issue I would be available to provide additional information re: nightclub security.
Thanks and I enjoy your articles.To the credit of the Fillmore Jazz Festival, the next year, 2010, the area where the event occurred was more ‘controlled’, patrons stood in a line to the side, and there wasn’t the room where someone could stand and confront a bouncer, and great care was taken to make sure that Harry’s Bar didn’t get too crowded inside.
Harry’s and the Fillmore Jazz Festival are great San Francisco traditions. This was in no way intended to harm them one bit. Indeed, it’s a complement to the staff and to the bouncer.
The video sparked the interest of producers with MSNBC Caught on Camera. The result was a segment made for that show and featuring spokesperson and musical artist Nick Cannon. This vlogger participated in the segment and my vlog is here:
Then There Was Meeting Anthony And His Girlfriend At Radio Bar In Oakland 7 Years Ago
And to top off the entire affair, Anthony The Bouncer happened to be at Radio Bar in Downtown Oakland at 435 13th St. as this vlogger was there. Anthony, who was no longer working security at Harry’s or any place else, and stopped doing that kind of work entirely, happily agreed to talk on camera about a moment in San Francisco Nightclub And Festival History, and what he was doing after that. That was where Anthony announced he was out of the bar business. He leaves behind a legacy of a heroic act to prevent a problem customer from harming patrons.
