Fuck No: Founders of Fuck Yeah Fest Allege Security Beating After Radiohead Concert

This account is simply unbelievable. Here's the lede of the piece in the LA Weekly Blog:

Monday night along the tree-lined walkway entrance to the Hollywood Bowl, as Radiohead was closing the second of their two sold-out nights at the venue, Sean Carlson and Phil Hoelting, promoters of this weekend's annual F Yeah Fest, were handing out flyers to exiting fans. Their friend Michael Reich, creator of the popular music video site Videothing.com, was recording the two for an upcoming documentary. As Reich shot, he noticed a scuffle occurring within his frame; in the background four security guards could be seen restraining a crowd member as they were ejecting him...

“The guy was screaming,” remembers Reich, “and trying to tell them that he would leave peacefully if they let him go.”

“The guard walked up to [Reich] and said, 'What the fuck do you think you're filming?' and grabbed at the camera,” says one eyewitness who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.

From there, it gets much worse:

Reich and Carlson began to leave the premises, says Reich, certain he had captured the use of extreme force on tape. Hoelting, who had stayed behind, then overheard a guard say, "That shit's going to be on YouTube. We gotta get that tape."

Carlson and Reich turned around to see the men running toward them. “Three giant security guards were barreling after me,” recalls Reich, so he and Carlson started to run along Highland. As the guards gave chase, Reich ran into traffic to try and elude the guards, who were grabbing at his backpack.

“He's running through traffic, dodging cars, on people's hoods as two guards are chasing him,” recalls the eyewitness. “He's saying, 'Please help me, please help me' with two or three security guards running through traffic trying to catch him.”

At this point, the story becomes even more remarkable, with Reich and Carlson being allegedly assaulted and threatened by security guards for the fest, and nearby police refusing to intervene. Read the rest here.

Frankly, I find the whole thing unbelievable. I mean, its not like security figures in Los Angeles have a history of using unnecessary...




(Jonathan Graef)