Truth Lounge owners to ask court for injunction against city to allow it to reopen at hearing Thursday

NATCHEZ — The Truth Lounge owners have filed an application for a preliminary injunction against the City of Natchez in Sixth District Circuit Court. Circuit Court Judge Carmen Drake will hear the application at 2 p.m. on Thursday in the Adams County Courthouse.

The Truth Lounge has been closed since April 25, when the city’s planning commission voted 4 to 3 to revoke the special exception that allowed it to operate in the city’s historic district.

Owners Rickey Banks and David Haywood appealed that decision to the city’s Mayor and Board of Aldermen on June 18. However, after a public hearing at that meeting, aldermen voted 3 to 2 to deny the request. Ward 5 Aldermen Ben Davis did not attend the June 18 meeting because he was out of town, said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson.

The planning commission, by unanimous vote, granted Banks and Haywood a special exception to open Truth Lounge at 719-½ Franklin St. on March 16, 2023.

Truth Lounge and its owners have been under scrutiny from the city and county law enforcement and city officials almost since it opened.

At a special meeting in October 2023, the mayor and three aldermen voted to close the lounge after a fight inside it took law officers 20 minutes to quell. Sixth Circuit District Judge Debra Blackwell then signed an agreement between the city and Truth Lounge attorneys that paved the way for it to reopen but with restricted hours.   Since that time, the city and Truth Lounge attorneys came to an agreement that allowed it to reopen with no restrictions, as long as it agreed to provide security in its building and to keep the sidewalk clear in front of the building at 719-1/2 Franklin St. As a result, Truth Lounge owners dropped a lawsuit it had filed against the city. However, the lounge’s attorneys said a lawsuit filed by Truth Lounge against Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and 15 as-yet-unnamed defendants is still active.

On April 25, the Natchez Planning Commission members voted 4-3 to revoke the special exemption permit after more than an hour of discussion and 20 minutes of public comment. The review came after a shooting on Easter Sunday near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. and Main streets. Video captured on a security camera across the street from Truth Lounge shows a crowd of people arguing outside the business. Then, gunshots can be heard on the video, which shows the crowd running from the scene.

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