Packed Memorial Day Pool Party At Houston Club Draws Flak After Footage Goes Viral

Clé Houston is under fire after it was revealed the club hosted a busy pool party Saturday (May 23). The club, which is located in Midtown Houston, showed a crowded gathering outdoors with no masks on sight. While the state allowed clubs and bars to resume operations in Texas after the coronavirus lockdowns, they can only serve 25% of their capacity.

Hundreds Of Violations

It was not immediately clear what percentage capacity did Clé Houston reach when it hosted its weekend pool parties. NBC News tried to get the side of club officials or staff Monday, but it was not yet able to respond to requests for interviews.

Samuel Pena, Houston’s fire chief, sent out a tweet that his department has already responded to around 300 complaints of violations on the reopening orders of the governor over Memorial Day weekend. The mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, for his part, said that the city will not hesitate to issue closure orders to businesses that do not follow state guidelines.

Crowds Coming Together

According to Turner, too many people have been coming together in some of the city’s bars and clubs. Swimming pool parties have also been happening. In all of those events, social distancing has not been observed, and people come without masks on, said the mayor during a press conference Sunday. “You are forcing us to step in for public health reasons to say no, we’re not going to allow that,” Turner added.

KPRC, an affiliate of NBC in Houston, reported that aside from the footage taken at the Houston club pool party, a video also exists of a similar gathering at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks. The video also sparked outrage after it showed hundreds of attendees appearing oblivious to social distancing guidelines.

Both videos, showing crowded pools and docks, were trending Sunday morning on Twitter. In the case of the pool party in Missouri, it was reported that people flocked to the popular tourist destination in time for Memorial Day weekend celebrations. The Lake of Ozarks video also revealed that despite social distancing signage around the area, the crowds were not heeding the guidelines. Some social media users expressed concern that partygoers might pick up the virus and bring it home to their communities upon their return.