It's come down to this, a back and forth on what really happened, last Friday, July 6th at Webster Hall when founding Cro-Mags bassist Harley Flanagan entered the club, went into the backstage area and in a matter of moments, two current members of the band were stabbed, and Flanagan's leg was busted by security.
Today, Flanagan gave a full retelling of the story to NYNatives.com, where he fully explains his self-defense rationale. Cro-Mags frontman Jon Joseph was not about to sit around and take this lightly, as he as already responded. We have both comments. Here is Harley's statement:
“When I saw that [dressing room] door get pulled shut I was literally fighting for my life. I was afraid these guys were going to kick me half to death, roll me down the back steps and that no one would see it… and there would be no witnesses and that would be that….and all I could think about was getting home safe to my kids…I wanted to save my life, to protect myself and these guys were trying to do me in.
“…I was getting the shit beat out of me. It was like an old fashion biker beat down, like BA BABABABABA BA And at that point everybody started screaming and I saw the door of the dressing room open and I started screaming security, security and I saw somebody pull the door shut to keep security out. And in my mind I thought to myself, “fuck, these dudes, their intention is to fuck me up, they don’t want no one to see it they’re trying to beat the shit out of me…SO what I did was defend my life…”
“…I’m getting the shit beat out of me. …Then at that point that’s when the bouncers managed to get in the room and I ended up getting dragged out into the balcony area, which is where everybody says the mêlée took place but no the mêlée took place in the dressing room behind a locked door where I was getting jumped people by myself.
“One dude says get on your stomach, get on your stomach, put your hands out in front of you and this one guy, big guy steps on my back and he’s standing with both of his feet on my back….and one guy is literally looking at me squeezing my throat choking me and … at this point it was DMS guys and security I don’t know who the fuck was which…one guy looks at me and says motherfucker I’ll fucking kill you…I will kick you in your fucking face until you are dead motherfucker stop moving.. and I’m just like Yo, I’m stopping moving at that point. And one guy’s like put your hands out in front of you and I’m like are you a cop and he’s like yeah and I’m like show me your badge and at that point ….the boys in blue hallelujah…the cops came running up the stairs… I was like fine, I’m not moving anymore … please cuff me, I stuck my hands out in front of me.. I’m face down on the floor. At that point I still didn’t know that I had been stabbed, I got 30 stitches in my leg. Thank God it was in my leg …and the cops cuffed me, turned me over and that’s when I saw the wound in my leg…
“[It] was just grotesque…the blood was bubbling out of it, the fischa was ..the tendons was literally hanging out of my leg….that’s why people started saying that’s a compound fracture…it was until I got cleaned up in the ambulance they realized it was more of a stab wound. And that’s when the cops put me on the chair. And they put me in the ambulance.”
This is quite a different telling of the story than what has been making the rounds, and John Joseph calls bullshit in his statement. Here it is in full:
"[Harley has] been watching too many sci-fi movies.
"First off, Harley was NOT invited to the show. He was told repeatedly by CBGB [Festival organizers] NOT to come. (I have all the texts and e-mails to CBGBs and security.) He was given a CBGBs laminate to attend another event ('American Hardcore' screening) and then used it to sneak into the show. And if he wanted to talk and resolve things, as he claims, why didn't he come before doors where we could taken care of any beef he had? No, he just wanted to come on the stage during show and try and do something to gain press — well, he got his press alright.
"At 6 p.m. [Harley] texted Louise (CBGBs) and asked her what time we were going [on]. She didn't respond, but warned me. To which I alerted security to let them deal with it, I had a show to do. He showed up 20 minutes before [and] hid in the crowd outside our dressing room door with a backpack and a KNIFE, never knocking on our door and saying, 'Yo, guys… can we talk?' He was also heard ranting outside that he was putting a stop to us playing his music (his music?). And while sitting outside our door told someone else that said to Harley that he doesn't care about the beef he attends both HARLEY'S WAR shows and CRO-MAGS shows, that he was just a fan of the music. Harley's response: 'Yeah, well, fuck you. Some shit's about to go down, so if you don't wanna be involved, keep fucking walking.' He also told people initially that I was in the dressing room when it all went down, making it look like I set him up when a thousand people saw me on stage ready to play.
"Look here's the bottom line: Security was told to come up and they never did. So knowing this dude always carries weapons and his plan was obviously to use the laminate to gain access to the stage while we played and hearing what he was ranting that night, also remembering the whole Dimebag Darrell [late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist who was killed on stage] situation, as we were on stage about to go on, he was asked to come in the dressing room by Mike. When Harley was grabbed to be searched for weapons, the fight ensued and those three took him down where he pulled a knife and began stabbing people. When the security finally arrived, he wouldn't drop the knife and THEY banged him up, not those three. Again, dozens of witnesses.
"Look if you got beef, a show with women and children on stage ain't the place to bring it. I believe those three stopped a much worse situation where perhaps kids could have got hurt who were on stage. And no one snitched — I refused to talk to the cops. Unfortunately for [Harley], it's a criminal case so no one has to press charges 'cuz he did that shit in a public venue. We have a way of dealing with matters — it's called 'street justice.' You pull a knife, I pull a pipe and smash your face in. And I did have a pipe on stage, by the way, knowing this dude can't really fight and always has a weapon, as I said.
"DMS are not thugs, so for the new jacks who weren't even around long enough to remember their past and said that — keep your mouths shut. For the last 10 years plus, they have been security at shows stopping violence, even promoting the Black N' Blue Bowl and other events where there is NEVER violence. If they had been doing security that night, Harley would have never got in and ALL of this could have been avoided. And only Mike is DMS, not the other two, and anyone who REALLY knows him (not you keyboard commandos talking crap anonymously) will attest to the fact that he's the nicest dude in the world and NEVER starts trouble. The other one is a veteran who tried to get the knife away from Harley. The other just a friend of the band. And Mike (Harley's replacement) was the one who got stabbed first.
"Bottom line, [Harley] was told not to come, he showed up right before we went on, he made threats and then he stabbed people. End of story.
"We will make up the show with SICK OF IT ALL as we are discussing another date now, but I wanted to set the record straight.
"Sure, obviously anyone who knows the past (it's all in my book, 'The Evolution Of A Cro-Magnon') knows [Harley] has a problem with me. He talks shit all the time — I do not. But he knows my bell and where I live. He NEVER rang it once. I told him we can go to the East River and resolve any issues. He refused. So if you wanna believe all the lies and B.S. that dude posts on [Facebook] — your choice. The truth is an entirely different thing, though. Your sympathy should lie with those who got stabbed, not the dude who did the stabbing and caused this whole problem. So stop gossiping and move on — that's what we are doing.
"See you in the pit.
"Peace and PMA."
Needless to say there are many witnesses to what happened, so the truth will get out. Although it seems not many people are cooperating with police, so theoretically, Harley might get released and by the sounds of it, it seems like that might be EVEN WORSE than if he stays in, as it's clear there will be "street justice" when he gets out.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykdn6RWqEYQ[/youtube]
