Exactly one month ago, Turnstile had a rather unfortunate incident where a sheriff’s deputy pepper sprayed a concert-goer in the face. There's a viral video of the incident where bassist Franz Lyons can be seen covering his eyes and warning vocalist Brendan Yates to step back. The incident has been under investigation, and now there's more footage that's been released regarding the situation.
CBS 6 obtained video footage from Richmond Sheriff Antionette Irving. The footage features recordings from a body camera of an officer that wasn't involved in the pepper spray incident itself. One clip shows a man directing crowd traffic for fans coming onto the stage. The footage doesn't indicate that there was any warning before the pepper spray is deployed.
According to CBS 6, the victim is 15 years old; most of the footage is blurred out since they're a minor. However, you can hear the fan and their dad describe the events. “I got shot with, like— I thought it was a beer or something, because people were going crazy the whole time. My face started burning. I couldn't see anything, and then I went off to the side, yelled 'pepper spray,' because that's what I thought it was, and it ended up being that," the young fan explained.
The dad added that Franz Lyons helped connect him with the teenager that was pepper-sprayed: "We were towards the back. They were up towards the front for most of the show. And the show ends, and his phone is calling me, and it's the [expletive] bassist from Turnstile who somehow got his phone and is like trying to get me to where my son is, and I can't fathom why. And then I get there and he is laying in the fetal position, pepper sprayed. I don't understand."
Other body camera footage shows the officer talking with Lyons and other unidentified people about the event. "I was playing guitar and I got hit in the face. I'm in the band. There was nothing out of control," Lyons said in one video. Another person, who isn't identified as being with the band or the venue, added: “It wasn't part of our security plan to have a wall of sheriffs in front of the stage. Absolutely unnecessary. A very weird flex and show of force that was unnecessary for a very positive, great concert."
Someone else, seemingly a part of the event crew, added, “We had an extremely clear security plan in place that we went over many times today. It worked. It was very effective. We didn't have any problems. There was no vibe that would make a deputy feel like they needed to pull out any sort of weapon or even to fear anything.”
Every person in these videos seems either concerned or pissed off (understandably!), without really any idea how this could have happened. It seems that there was a miscommunication between venue staff or outside security with the sheriff's department. It's suggested that the person who used the pepper spray was unaware that people were being asked to come on stage. It's also suggested that the pepper spray was mishandled and accidentally set off. Both pretty horrible for a harmless hardcore concert.
“The fact that he lied about it is worse. He said he had it in his hand and didn’t realize the pin was out and it just fired out," a man told the officer in another video. "I need to tell these guys at some point that he was disciplined in some way."
CBS 6 asked about the internal investigation's outcome, but Irving said it was still under review.
