This won’t be politically correct–as you’ll see in a bit.
In the aftermath of that deadly stabbing of a former USF football player outside The Orpheum nightclub in Ybor City, we’ve seen a predictable exercise in finger-pointing, scapegoating and rationalizing. From “It’s not Ybor’s fault” to “Where were the off-duty TPD cops? to “Stuff happens.”
We know that emotionally blindsided USF coach Willie Taggart overreacted when he declared Ybor “off limits” to his players. Overall statistics show crime in the historic, entertainment district has been on the decline for years. Nobody that matters misses Club Empire. And we know that no cops, for whatever reason, signed up.
We also know that within hours of the Taggart-announced ban–or as long as it took Richard Gonzmart to vent–USF Athletic Director Mark Harlan had it lifted. However awkwardly done, it was the right thing to do.
And we know this: Certain kinds of events–whether in Ybor, SoHo or East Tampa–are problematic at best. An after-hours party after the USF-FAMU football game was sure to lure the usual suspects. It was an all too familiar all-call for those attracted to wee-hours entertainment and all the excesses that can accompany it.
To The Orpheum’s credit, it had nearly a dozen security personnel on hand and wanded its patrons. But that’s also a double-edged, ironic sword.
Put it this way, if a business needs metal detectors and wands because heat- and blade-packers are a likely part of a patron mix, it doesn’t belong in business. Certainly not hosting a mislabeled “official” late-night party.
Ybor, which is increasingly reaching out to fine diners, cultural tourists and the tech-and-social-media set, cannot co-exist with clubs that need to wand their patrons. What’s bad for Ybor is bad for Tampa. It’s lose-lose.
As for that political correctness lead, The Orpheum crowd was racially skewed as was expected. Perhaps this club, should it ever be allowed to put on another after-hours wandfest, should also prominently mount a “Black Lives Matter” banner for any such occasion–just to remind patrons that there are several templates for black-victim violence and collateral outrage.