My little brother was there...

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Riot strikes at SB punk concert

Photo Gallery: Orange Show Events Center Riot
Photo Gallery 2: Orange Show Events Center Riot


SAN BERNARDINO - An all-day concert at the National Orange Show Events Center ended in violence Saturday night when fighting broke out and escalated into a full-blown riot that left several injured.

About 1,500 concert-goers spilled out onto the streets shortly before 9 p.m., smashing in business windows, throwing bottles, setting fires and thrashing parked cars.

The concert, known as British Invasion 2K6, began at seven hours earlier at 2 p.m. in the Orange Pavilion. Several witnesses said racial shouts from white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups spurred fighting during the show.

One concert-goer took off his belt and began whipping others with it, said Melissa McEwan, 17, of Westminster.

The crowd of punk-rock fans seemed to become agitated when police and fire personnel tried to get through the venue to help a person who had been stabbed, said San Bernardino Police Sgt. Rick Lindsey.

Officers were pushed back by the crowd before they reached the stabbing victim, but were successful on a second attempt. He was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center, officials said. He and another man who was hit by chair were both listed in stable condition late Saturday, police said.

The crowd grew more agitated as more police arrived on scene, Lindsey said.

Police in full riot gear descended on the crowd, shut the show down and herded concert-goers out of the venue. Shortly after 9 p.m., some 1,500 concert-goers funneled out onto E Street.

San Bernardino Police called for help from other police agencies as far away as Pomona as the throng moved into the streets, some directing their anger at two police vehicles parked inside the venue. Both were destroyed, Lindsey said.

Helicopters hovered over the area near the fairgrounds as the crowds congregated at nearby fast-food restaurants.

As police ordered the crowd to disperse, angry concert-goers began trashing nearby businesses.

Glass bottles flew. Angry youths starting smashing in windows and tearing up the drive-thru menu board at a nearby Jack In The Box restaurant and kicking at cars in the parking lot, while frightened employees huddled inside. Signs and windows from other local businesses and storefronts were also vandalized.

Younger concert-goers - some as young as 13 - ran away. Others frantically dialed their parents on cell phones.

"I want to get out of here," said Keith Madzar, 24, a concert-goer from Whittier. "I don't want to get hit with nothing."

His friend, 27-year-old Thiory Potucek, said the riot started inside the National Orange Show Events Center.

"All of a sudden, they were beating each other inside," the Yorba Linda woman said. "Everybody runs out here and it starts turning into a riot."

Several people said fighting broke out after a group of skinheads began shouting "white power" during the concert.

The venue was playing host to the British Invasion 2K6, an event organized by SOS Records and Showcase Presents, according to the National Orange Show Events Center's Web site.

Headlining the event were several hard-core punk bands, including G.B.H., The Addicts, Broken Bones and Vice Squad. It was billed as one of the most famous punk-rock festivals on the British Invasion 2K6 Web site.

This was the third year the event was held at the National Orange Show Events Center in the Orange Pavilion.

Two sergeants were injured in the fray. One received cuts on his hand while another was hit the items thrown at police officers.

"People were throwing rocks and bottles at my officers," Lindsey said.

Some of the agencies used pepper balls and tear gas to disperse the crowd, which went off like small explosions. Flashing police lights reflected off the clouds of gas that hung in the air. A blackened trash Dumpster set on fire earlier was still smoking.

"The whole stadium was filled with tear gas," said Ray Luna, 18, of La Habra. "Everyone was shoving through the doors with our eyes closed. We just pushed through the doors."

By 10:30 p.m., police

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reported the group was beginning to disperse but E and Mill streets were littered with trash, broken glass and vomit. About the same time, police were herding several hundred people south on E Street away from the National Orange Show Events Center. Officers ordered concert-goers out of restaurants and gas stations where they had congregated.

"If you don't leave we're going to force you to leave. Let's go," shouted one police officer to several punk rockers who had congregated at a Del Taco restaurant on E Street.

Some in the crowd shouted profanities at police and others seemed to be doing anything they could to annoy officers, including crossing streets that had been declared off limits. Others simply were confused as to where police were directing them while they search for their friends.

Police blocked off Mill Street from Inland Center Drive and E Street to Arrowhead Avenue.

A few small groups waited for cars that were still stuck inside the National Orange Show Events Center grounds, and others waited outside the gates until they could retrieve their cars.

Timothy Morton stood in the cold with four of his friends, waiting to pick their car up.

"They kept telling us to walk and keep going," the 18-year-old Morton said. "We live in (expletive) Orange County! How are we supposed to walk there?"

Other parents who rushed to pick up children waited anxiously for hours.

At the closed Tacos and Burritos stand at Arrowhead and Mill, Corona resident Diana Lopez waited nervously for her 14-year-old son, Xavier.

"I saw the flier and it didn't say there were any age restrictions," the teary Lopez said. "Everything looked OK when I dropped him off.

"The police won't let me go find him, they pointed a rifle at me and told me to leave the area."

As Lopez spoke, she said smoke had burned her eyes and throat. Just then, she spotted her son and a friend walking toward her and the family was tearfully reunited.

At least six people were arrested on suspicion of various charges throughout the night, Lindsey said.

With help from San Bernardino County Sheriff's, the CHP and police agencies including Pomona, Rialto and Fontana, the crowd was herded in several directions away from the concert venue.

Most of the concert-goers were from out of town, as far as Orange County, Los Angeles and Fresno. Some frantically called parents or friends to come pick them up but many were stranded, separated from their friends and lost in the throng.

Travis May of Ontario was relieved to run into friends from Orange County after he was separated from his group. As police cleared the crowd from the concert venue, Travis said some concert-goers began tearing up the fence trying to get out.

"They tear-gassed us out with no warning," said Travis, 15. "The only place to go was outside."

Staff writers Gina Tenorio and Andrew Edwards contributed to this report.

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