Venue organisers have responded after footage went viral of Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson alerting fans that a fan had been beaten up by security at a recent show in the US.
Late last week, Iron Maiden found themselves in the headlines after an incident at their Thursday night show at the Tacoma Dome in the US state of Washington went viral.
According to footage of Dickinson addressing the crowd, a fan of the band had been attacked by roughly 10 security guards, requiring medical assistance for his wounds.
“We’ve got an Iron Maiden fan backstage who’s had the shit kicked out of him by ten security guards,” Dickinson began. “I saw one security guard lean over the barrier and punch a kid half his size in the face four times.
“This is not the fucking mixed martial arts. If it was the mixed martial arts, you’d have a referee, you know. This is not that.”
“I don’t know if this happens in this building all the time, I don’t know if this is an act of fucking madness, and I hope that kid is getting hospital treatment now because he’s bleeding from head wounds. I hope that kid takes this building to the fucking cleaners.”
https://t.co/cRo8fLD1uR pic.twitter.com/AKXrVJTdo7
— Nicole (@RHandLMindCole) September 6, 2019
However, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Dome has since explained that the fan had initially assaulted security, with nearly three dozen police officers called in to assist in regards to the incident.
Speaking to The News Tribune, Tacoma Dome spokeswoman Tammi Bryant explained that “multiple complaints were received about an overly aggressive individual who when addressed, physically attacked a security professional.”
However, when security guards “engaged to remove (him)”, the individual reportedly became violent, reportedly striking the guards and provoking the ensuing response.
As KIRO 7 reports, Tacoma police have claimed that a 26-year-old man had become intoxicated, bothering people around him, and causing surrounding attendees to request his removal from security.
Police state that after punching the security guard, the guard backed way from the man before requesting assistance.
As Blabbermouth adds, footage uploaded of the event seems to somewhat support the timeline of events provided by police. In the below video, security can be seen addressing an audience member at around 3:10 before being struck and swiftly retaliating.
While the individual was said to be receiving medical attention, police report that the man refused assistance after being cited for assault, and was released soon after.
Check out footage of the incident at the recent Iron Maiden gig:
