Riot Breaks Out at Punk Concert in California (British Invasion)

AP via CBS ^ | Mar. 5, 2006 | no byline

[weegee]

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Mar. 5, 2006

(AP) Rioting broke out Saturday night at British punk band concert, injuring several people and destroying two police cars, officials said.

Some in the crowd of about 1,500 at the "British Invasion 2K6" show pelted police with rocks and bottles, forcing the officers to withdraw, police spokesman Sgt. Rick Lindsey said.

Two concertgoers were hospitalized with serious injuries, and two officers suffered minor injuries, he said.

The rioting began when police responded to a report of a stabbing at the National Orange Show Events Center concert. When officers arrived, the crowd became agitated and several fights broke out, forcing the officers to back off, Lindsey said.

After backup arrived, the officers went in again and extracted the stabbing victim and another person who was beaten, Lindsey said. But the violent crowd forced officers to withdraw again.

With additional backup, including Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and Fontana police, officers lined up in phalanx formation to clear the streets and they fired pepper balls and tear gas to move the crowd, Lindsey said.

As the crowd dispersed they destroyed two police cars and vandalized area businesses, Lindsey said. A trash bin was set on fire and storefront windows were smashed.

The all-day concert was scheduled to feature 22 punk rock bands, including G.B.H. and the Adicts.

[weegee]

An online account I read put the crowd size at 5,000 and said that the initial fight was between some punks and nazis.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I hate San Bernadino nazis.

[rikkir]

Punk Concert: Throw rocks and bottles.
Rap Concert: Spray crowd with machine gun fire.
Which one will the media not report?
Wow, concerts I used to attend (Eagles, Kansas, Styx, Journey, Motley Crue, etc) We were all too "mellow" to do anything but enjoy the music, and eat junk food. Maybe we ought to make it mandatory that pot smoke be pumped into the auditorium before concerts today. </humor> </joking> </yuk-yuk>

[weegee]

Except for the crowd crush at the Who concert in Cincinati.

And there were anarchist riots at Woodstock 1969 (they reference the burning down of the burger booth in the film and the walls were all torn down at the gates), Isle of Wight (agitators camped out outside and tried to tear down the gates, people launched fireworks at the stage and caught it on fire), and other festivals.

This punk riot made the national news pretty quickly (4 hours online) all with the same article.

The SF "peace protest" riot of 2003 didn't make the same kind of headlines (even though banks, starbucks, and immigration offices were trashed).

[rikkir]

True. Maybe I just don't remember it all that well. MMM what did they tell us about that stuff and short term memory.... Gosh I can't remember.
Wow I do remember the incident at the Who show. Ruined stadium seating around the country for a lot of years. Mostly was the fault of the arena wasn't it? Didn't they leave some of the doors closed that should have been open? Mostly what I remember about that incident was the WKRP episode devoted to it.