In a thorough virtual hearing Tuesday afternoon, Boston licensing officials aggressively questioned a bar manager and one of his doormen about their actions after prosecutors said a former bouncer fatally stabbed a retired Marine last month.
Sons of Boston, on Union Street near Faneuil Hall, lost its entertainment license shortly after the deadly encounter, which happened outside the pub on March 19. The board is also reviewing the status of its liquor license.
Prosecutors said Alvaro Larrama of East Boston stabbed 23-year-old Daniel Martinez of Illinois after the two got into an argument outside the pub. They said Larrama turned away Martinez and his friend before following the two down the street and stabbing Martinez, who later died at a hospital.
City regulators questioned how none of the staff members saw the attack, why the bar never ran a background check on the bouncer before hiring him and why the manager never called 911.
"Do you think it's reasonable that no one saw this assault?" asked licensing board commissioner Liam Curran.
"No," replied bar manager Jason Kuczynski.
"Do you think it's reasonable that you didn't get a background check? I'm going to characterize that as willful ignorance. Do you care to comment on how I feel about that?" asked Curran.
"No comment," Kuczynski replied.
The board also discussed a video that surfaced on TikTok shortly after the deadly attack, which they said shows Larrama shadowboxing a patron outside the pub on an unspecified date.
Kuczynski also said he was unaware that Larrama had a knife that night and said he had no reason to believe Larrama was a danger.
It's still unclear why Larrama refused to let Martinez and his friend into the pub, but a doorman who was there that night said patrons are routinely turned away for several reasons.
"People try to sneak in nips, weapons, anything like that," explained Patrick Russell. "So, he was probably going up and down the line, just saying, 'Hey, if you have nips, get out of my line now.'"
The board gave the bar until Wednesday to turn over additional surveillance video. It will make a decision on the liquor license on Thursday.
