Committee Recommends Closing ELMNT Lounge

ELMNT Lounge. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

After months of intensifying calls for action, the Licenses Committee on Tuesday recommended revocation of the liquor license for the troubled ELMNT Lounge.

A hearing, brought by the Milwaukee Police Department, centered on two recent shootings—one deadly—at the nightclub, 618 N. Water St., which has operated for more than 20 years under various owners and titles, including Ladybug Club and 618 Live on Water.

One shooting occurred just before 4 a.m. on June 15 in a nearby parking garage at 525 N. Water St., injuring one. According to a police report, those involved in the altercation had patronized ELMNT Lounge earlier in the evening. The business was closed at the time of the shooting. A second incident unfolded just after midnight on July 11, when Antwan Hogans and Kevin Lewis were killed in a drive-by shooting.

MPD, represented by Assistant City Attorney Nathaniel Adamson, called nine witnesses during the tense hearing, which stretched over 3 1/2 hours, delaying more than a dozen scheduled license application appointments on the day’s agenda.

Peggy Williams-Smith, CEO of Visit Milwaukee, said the “violent incidents” have the potential to jeopardize future tourism and convention opportunities for the city. However, she didn’t take a position on whether or not the club should be shut down. Additional witnesses included Matt Dorner, CEO of Milwaukee Downtown, Business Improvement District #21 and Hezron Lopez, who noted a “definite pattern” of violence at the nightclub.

Between 2008 and 2021, the Common Council issued suspensions totaling 280 days to the club. A 2013 revocation hearing resulted in a 90-day suspension. The last suspension came in 2021, when the council narrowly voted to close the club for 60 days after a homicide took place nearby involving patrons from the bar.

Licensee Rajvir Bains and his partners at A1 Waterstreet, LLC purchased the business on June 1 from previous owners Habib Manjee. Under both owners, the club manager has been Nick Murado.

“Thirteen out of their 20 license years have resulted in some form of discipline,” said area Alderman Robert Bauman. “It was going to be a new page, new dawn, new world at ELMNT … within a month of them taking over, they had two corpses in front of their building due to their pattern of operation.”

Attorneys Vincent Bobot and Michael Maistelman represented ELMNT at the hearing and at one point attempted to have the complaint dismissed on a technicality, noting that sworn complainant District 1 Captain Robert Thiel could not recall whether he had raised his right hand while swearing the complaint.

“I’m not falling for the banana in the tailpipe,” Chairperson JoCasta Zamarripa said after an extensive back-and-forth, calling the pushback “silliness.”

Bobot and Maistelman called several witnesses, including Murado; two representatives of Burke Properties, the club’s landlord; a Milwaukee police officer; and a security guard.

Another witness, Margaret Dodd, told committee members that she recently celebrated her wedding anniversary at the lounge. “I always feel safe when I’m at ELMNT,” she said.

Juan Hogans, son of the late Antwan Hogans, said he doesn’t blame ELMNT for his fathers’ death. “I don’t think any club in America can really prevent a drive-by shooting,” he said.

In closing remarks, Bobot urged committee members to consider the owners’ livelihoods, reiterating his claim that neither shooting was a direct result of the club’s plan of operation.

Adamson disagreed. “I understand that Mr. Bains just took over in June, but he kept the same guy, had the same plan of operation, was doing the same events—it’s the same story. These are the cracks in the foundation, and when coupled with an explosion such as this, it forecasts what? More violence.”

“This isn’t just about what goes on inside, it’s about what spills out onto the streets. And what’s going out onto the streets is death.”

Ald. Andrea Pratt moved to revoke the business’s liquor license based on the preponderance of evidence in the police report, aldermanic and applicant testimony and other evidence that demonstrates the operation results in a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the public, as well as loitering and disturbance of the peace.

Pratt, Zamarripa, Peter Burgelis and DiAndre Jackson supported the motion. Ald. Alex Brower voted against it.

The matter now heads to the Milwaukee Common Council for a final vote on Nov. 4.

For more on the club, see our September coverage.

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