7700 16th Street NW
| 7700 16th Street NW Washington, D.C. | |
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| General information | |
| Type | House |
| Architectural style | Tudor |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | D.C. 38°59′00″N 77°02′11″W / 38.983372°N 77.036479°WCoordinates: D.C. 38°59′00″N 77°02′11″W / 38.983372°N 77.036479°W |
| Completed | 1936 |
7700 16th Street NW is the street address of the Hanafi Madh-Hab Center in the Shepherd Park neighborhood of North West area of Washington, D.C. where the mass murder of 7 Hanafi Muslims occurred. Four men from the Nation of Islam Mosque No. 12 were accused of the crime.
The residence had been purchased by Kareem Abdul Jabbar and was donated for use as the headquarters of the Hanafi Madh‐Hab. The property was listed as the Hanafi American Mussulman's Rifle and Pistol Club.
At the time of the murder, the area was considered "a quiet neighborhood of upper middle class homes sometimes called Washington's 'Black Gold Coast' section, an interracial area where many of the city's well to‐do blacks reside."
"The azaleas were cut down and cleared away. Hodges, shrubbery, anything that might hide an intruder - were leveled until a bare expanse of gravel had replaced the garden. The windows were barred; a spotlight shone on the front steps. And Hanafi guards, armed with machetes and long Japanese swords, began a night-and-day vigil outside the Khaalis house. Every time a neighbor passed the Hanafi house the guards were there, pacing, walking steadily down the gravel field and back again. In winter they put a overcoats and warm hats and kept pacing. It made many neighbors uneasy."
In 1977, The Washington Post described the building as "an armed camp" and wrote that "around the clock, at least one sentry armed with what appeared from the street to be a rifle, paced back and forth in front of half a dozen tall flagpoles." People also reported "machete practice sessions on the lawn."
The Ward 4 Heritage guide describes the houses on 16th street as "impressive homes and subdivisions along 16th Street now inhabited by upper and middle income black professional families – doctors, judges, attorneys, educators, politicians – became known as Washington’s 'Gold Coast.' Together with the “Platinum Coast”, the communities of North Portal Estates and Colonial Village, this area of the ward was characterized by some as the 'bastion of black bourgeoisie.'"
University of Maryland lists the residence in their Global Terrorism Database.
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Wikipedia