Turkish Cops Use Tear Gas on Protestors After Radiohead Attack

Turkish police used tear gas and water cannons Saturday to disperse hundreds of demonstrators protesting an attack targeting an event for Radiohead fans the previous night, the AP reports. Skirmishes between police and demonstrators broke out near a record store that hosted the Radiohead event that ended in violence. On Friday night, a mob of men carrying sticks and bottles attacked Radiohead fans who had gathered at the Velvet Indieground store to listen to Radiohead's new album, A Moon Shaped Pool, according to Turkish media reports.

Rayka Simoni told the private Dogan news agency that people were drinking beer and chatting when about 20 men began to throw glass bottles at them. Video posted online allegedly showing the attack suggested the assailants were angered by participants drinking alcohol during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Radiohead issued a statement offering their "love and support" to Istanbul fans. "We hope that someday we will be able to look back on such acts of violent intolerance as things of the ancient past," the band added. The record shop was locked Saturday morning and posters advertising the streaming event were ripped off nearby walls. (More Radiohead stories.)