Radiohead have issued a statement in the wake of a violent attack on their Turkish fans.
A large group of men described as “radical Islamists” launched an attack an Istanbul record store that was hosting one of the countless global streaming sessions being held on Friday to celebrate the release of the band’s new album, A Moon Shaped Pool.
According to Turkish news, the attackers targeted the Velvet Indieground venue because they were angry about patrons drinking alcohol and playing music during Ramadan.
Reports suggest as many as 20 men used pipes and bottles as weapons to attack and beat the store’s owners as well as some attendees, before vandalising the store and threatening to burn it down with everyone inside.
A Periscope video has surfaced (below), which shows a commotion outside the store. And although you can’t see much of the violence, the audio itself is chilling enough.
A man claiming to be the poster of the video – and one of the hosts of the streaming event – has responded in a thread on Reddit, saying:
I was one of the hosts. I am the person that’s speaking in that video. I am the owner of that periscope account. They were determined to kill us. We were beaten by more than 20 men with pipes in their hands, beer bottles were broken on our heads. I don’t even know how we made it out. I will share the details later guys, just hoping that no one will die.
Thankfully, there have been no reports of any deaths as a result of the attack, but at least one person was bloodily injured after being struck in the head with a bottle:
Radical islamists attacked a @radiohead event in İstanbul, Turkey because fans were drinking during ramadan! pic.twitter.com/mP0rEGouC9
— dilâra (@DilaraGurcu) June 17, 2016
The horrific incident has prompted a swift response from Thom Yorke & co, who have just issued the following statement (Via Pitchfork):
“Our hearts go out to those attacked tonight at Velvet IndieGround in Istanbul. We hope that someday we will be able to look back on such acts of violent intolerance as things of the ancient past. For now, we can only offer our fans in Istanbul our love and support.”
Find the Periscope video of the attack below.
https://youtu.be/XJMv_XPmvfQ
