ion that the mayor of the most powerful city in the world was smoking crack while in office continued to swirl. In September 1989, a federal grand jury heard testimony from a secretary from the Virgin Islands that she saw the mayor smoking crack while the mayor and other city officials had visited the Islands in March 1988.Despite the rumors, many of Barry’s supporters, refused to acknowledge the drug use. Barry felt he was being setup. At one point he proclaimed The Washington Post was out to get him. After January 18, 1990, a videotape would prove to the world, that the rumors were true.Shortly after 8:00 pm on January 18, 1990, a collection of FBI and District police raided a room at the Vista International Hotel. Previous to their entrance, a videotape they had setup recorded Mayor Barry taking two long drags off a crack pipe. Barry was arrested, and brought to FBI headquarters; he was released later in the evening on his own reconnaissance. Needless to say, the local and national media went into a frenzy. In the heart of the Bush Administration utilizing federal resources to fight the war on drugs, an elected official caught on tape smoking crack was an image that no one wanted to be associated with. WRC TV, the local NBC affiliate broke into prime time programming with a special report by the station’s news anchor and friend of the mayor, Jim Vance. This was only the beginning of a nonstop media circus that followed the mayor from arrest to trial, and after. Two weeks after the arrest, an article in Newsweek Magazine called the arrest “A stunning blow to black elected officials nationwide, and to Barry’s black constituents in the District of Columbia.” The article went on to discuss the impact of the arrest on the efforts of drug czar William Bennett and the Bush Administration. Citing that the arrest had made front page news in Bogot, Columbia simultaneous to efforts by the Administratio...
