A listening party for Radiohead’s new album at an Istanbul record store turned horrific when the event at Velvet Indieground was stormed by approximately 20 men, armed with metal pipes and glass bottles, who attacked the store’s owner, manhandled fans and vandalized the shop.
As reported by Spin, a person attending the event captured video of the incident, although be forewarned the footage below is difficult to watch:
According to a Reddit thread about the attacks, it’s believed the attacks were motivated by the men’s fundamentalist religious beliefs, with the Radiohead listeners’ beer-drinkingduring the Islamic holy holiday of Ramadan reportedly setting off the angry mob.
“Just because of Turkey is in Ramadan (fasting) month and that crowd drinking beer, having fun around the store and it’s forbidden to drink alcohol and stuff in Ramadan time for f***ing muslims!” noted a commenter on Reddit.
Related: Radiohead Releases New Album Ahead Of Schedule
Following the attack, Radiohead responded with the following statement: “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.”