A frightening moment was caught on Periscope during a listening party for Radiohead’s latest album. Patrons at Velvet Indieground in Istanbul, Turkey were interrupted by a group of men according to who according to Stereogum, “were angry that they were drinking alcohol and playing music during Ramadan.” Video from the Periscope broadcast was captured and uploaded on to YouTube, showing a man entering the the shop to stop the music and leading to a commotion outside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJMv_XPmvfQ
The video doesn’t show too much, but one of the hosts commented on Reddit about just how frightening the mob outside seemed to be:
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.
This certainly adds a layer of terror to the audio you can hear in the video. No one was reported seriously injured from the incident, with one person reported bleeding after being struck by a bottle according to Stereogum. The incident follows threats on the recently canceled Istanbul gay pride march, a situation that has only been heightened following the incident in Orlando and acts attributed to ISIS in the region:
“To our state officials: do not make us deal with this. Either do what is needed or we will do it. We will take any risks, we will directly prevent the march,” the group’s Istanbul provincial head, Kursat Mican, told journalists on Wednesday.
“Degenerates will not be allowed to carry out their fantasies on this land … We’re not responsible for what will happen after this point,” he said, citing a Turkish proverb: “if you’re not taught by experience, you’re taught by a beating.”
Radiohead released a statement on the listening party incident, showing support for those affected:
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.
If anything, this highlights the things we usually take for granted here in the United States. Velvet Indieground did post a message via their Facebook page that asked anybody who needs help from the incident to reach out.
(Via Velvet Indieground / Stereogum / The Telegraph)
