Hardcore Concert Erupts Into Violence; Bandmembers Claim Police Brutality
August 16, 2006J.J. Huggins and Marisa Donelan of Sentinel & Enterprise report that police arrested three band members outside a Leominster, Massachusetts church Saturday night (August 12) after a hardcore punk-rock concert featuring a band named CUT THROAT (MySpace page) erupted into violence, officials said Monday.
Police are also investigating threats on a Web site made by someone named "Dan," who claimed to be the brother of one of the men arrested.
The poster said he now wants to burn Leominster down, according to Police Chief Peter Roddy and Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella.
Officials are also looking into why the people who organized the concert in the basement at the Unitarian Universalist First Church on West Street did not hire a police detail like they were supposed to, Roddy and Mazzarella said.
Mazzarella said he thinks the church had nothing to do with planning the show, and probably didn't know what type of concert featuring "Christian-rock bands" was being held there.
"I think you'll find the church wasn't aware and maybe thought they were dealing with a different animal," said the mayor, who used to be a city police officer.
"I don't blame the church," he said.
Mazzarella also said the police might seek a criminal complaint against the person who threatened the city and the police on the Internet, calling the threats "troubling."
The mayor said that by Monday afternoon he had received 25 to 50 e-mails claiming the police acted brutally during the incident.
Read more at www.sentinelandenterprise.com.
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