Manassas City Council spent Monday night on what a November First Friday might look like after the city and Historic Manassas Inc. already paused the October event. There was no vote.
Vice Mayor Mark D. Wolfe presided. While not present Monday, Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger remains in office through Sept. 30.
A utility-rate briefing and a Sudley Road construction update came first. Public comment then turned to Old Town.
On Sept. 4, gunfire near the train depot during First Friday killed 16-year-old Patriot High School student Ashley Intihar, an uninvolved bystander, police have said. About 10,000 people were downtown.
The city and HMI announced Sept. 14 that they were pausing Oct. 9’s Pumpkin Palooza. Potomac Local reported then that First Friday runs February through November and that HMI’s 2026 calendar listed Feb. 7 (Souper Bowl), March 6, April 3, May 1, June 5, July 10, Aug. 7 (Dog Days of Summer), Sept. 4, Oct. 9, and Nov. 6. July and October fall on the second Friday.
After the shooting, two dates were left: Oct. 9 and Nov. 6. Only October was paused. November remained on the published HMI schedule. Monday was the advertised public discussion of what comes next.
HMI walked the room through what a Nov. 6 First Friday could look like if the city holds one. Residents split on whether it should come back at all.
Speakers asked for magnetometers and bag checks, more police, an end to or tighter rules on the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, and a pause on other city business. Several tied the night to state bond and gun law, including people who run onto school property with a firearm.
DORA is the city’s on-street drinking zone for First Friday. Adults 21 and older may buy alcohol from a participating restaurant or bar and walk the marked downtown blocks with it in a clear plastic logo cup.
Outside alcohol, bottles, and cans are not allowed. HMI’s 2026 rules set last call for on-street sales at 9:30 p.m., ended sales at 10 p.m., and — a change this year — ended on-street consumption at 10:30 p.m. City Council already tightened downtown event volume in 2024 after police and merchants flagged underage drinking and drinks that never came from a participating bar.
One speaker, who said he held a concealed-carry permit, asked why defendants were on the street. Magnetometers, he said, cannot cover every downtown entrance. He said he left his gun outside chambers because carrying there is illegal.
Council member Theresa Coates Ellis told him she had already spoken in the hall with state Sen. Danica Roem and the police chief about why the suspects were out. Council is “not just sitting worrying about metal detectors,” she said.
Potomac Local’s two-part series this month walked the court file and the Richmond code behind that night. Part 1 found two of the three men later charged were already free on pending cases, including a February gun case in which a court form said the Commonwealth agreed to convert a $5,000 secured bond to unsecured.
Part 2, published Sunday, traced the 2021 repeal of charge-based no-bail starting points. Roem, whose district includes the city, said in that story that “the system failed a 16-year-old girl” and that she would write a transparency bill on bond and probation rather than restore the old lists. Del. Phil Scott and Sen. Tara Durant have said they want those presumptions back. That fight is in Richmond. Monday’s room was City Hall.
A speaker who said she does community engagement and fundraising for Sleepy Dragon and Honey and Ivy told the chamber she was downtown when the shots were fired. The DJ cut the music. She asked the room to treat that night as everyone’s worst day.
Khadija Todd asked whether events should continue. Ray Brady said she skips First Friday and blamed DORA and leftover liquor at the Saturday market. Kim objected to anyone measuring one child’s death against another. Morgan Miller spoke on safety.
Wolfe and other members thanked the speakers. The tape shows no ordinance, resolution, or recorded vote on First Friday, magnetometers, or DORA. Nov. 6 was still the date on HMI’s 2026 calendar. Staff and HMI did not lock a yes or no Monday.
