The deputy director of the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in East Baltimore, where a 20-year-old man was fatally stabbed during a fight at a party Friday night, said he was cutting ties with a local promoter who had described the parties to museum officials as Christian fundraisers.
Fliers for the parties, posted on a Web page for Big Les Productions, describe them as events for young adults and “mature” high school students. Many of the posters show young men flashing what appear to be gang signs or raising their middle fingers, and promise a “sexy ladies dance contest.”
There is no mention of the Baltimore Christian Warriors, the group that museum officials say they believed was hosting the event.
The Baltimore Christian Warriors are said to organize a football team and marching band and are affiliated with the Baltimore Christian Community Association, which state records show has been defunct since 1996.
The parties have been occurring weekly at the museum, in the 1600 block of E. North Ave., since Nov. 20, according to the promoter’s Web page. Security was adequate, and museum staff who were on hand did not see anything that raised eyebrows. On the Big Les Productions MySpace page, organizers warn against “wild dancing” and promise strict security at the events.
But police say the parties, which ran from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. according to the fliers, had been attracting very large groups of teens, many out past the city’s midnight juvenile curfew.
On Friday, security broke up a number of fights, and 20-year-old Joshua Hargrove was fatally stabbed as a group was being escorted out. An 18-year-old man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder after police say he confessed to his involvement in the altercation according to The Baltimore Sun.
