At an album celebration event held in İstanbul on Saturday night for the British rock band Radiohead, participants were attacked by a group of men, who claimed they were reacting to alcohol consumption during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The incident took place at a record store named “Velvet Indieground Records” in the Beyoğlu district during a party for Radiohead’s new album “A Moon Shaped Pool,” which was organized as part of the events all around the world to celebrate the new album.
While the event was streaming live on Twitter via Periscope, a group of individuals stormed the record store, forcing the attendees out of the place, cursing and threatening them. The assailants threw bottles of alcoholic drinks onto the ground and shouted “Close this place! Aren’t you ashamed doing this in Ramadan? You will respect Ramadan!”
The audience escaped in panic, while the attackers were heard threatening them to kill. Some of the attendees were reportedly beaten by the assailants. In the aftermath of the incident, the record store was closed by one of the shopkeepers.
Later in the day, Radiohead released a statement to show solidarity with the victims of the attack:
“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.”