Hardcore Fans And Friends Come Together To Support HARLEY FLANAGAN

July 9, 2012

Harley Flanagan, who founded the legendary hardcore band the CRO-MAGS at the age of 14 and toured with the band for some twenty years, was arrested in New York City on July 6 on charges of attacking several members of the new CRO-MAGS lineup during the CBGB Festival. Flanagan, who had been a panelist at one of the event's seminars, allegedly attempted to attend the concert of his former band. Neither Harley Flanagan nor Parris Mayhew, the two founding members of the band, is still in the CRO-MAGS.

According to news reports, William Berario, 45, was slashed above the eye and bitten on his cheek, and Michael "The Gook" Couls was cut on his arm and stomach during the incident, which happened around 8:30 p.m. Flanagan was seen in photographs posted on BoweryBoogie.com being wheeled from the venue by EMTs. He was reportedly taken to Bellevue Hospital to be treated for a broken leg and was charged with second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Harley Flanagan has been a well-known personality in New York and the underground music scene. At 9 years old, he published a book of poetry with an introduction written by famed beat poet Allen Ginsberg; at 12 he was playing drums for the punk band THE STIMULATORS; and the CRO-MAGS' first release, "Age Of Quarrel", is considered a quintessential hardcore anthem. Recently, Flanagan was the subject of a chapter in the book "Art That Kills" by George Petros about leaders of the Aesthetic Terrorism Art Movement.

Since the CRO-MAGS disbanded, Flanagan has gone on to become a martial arts expert and instructor, the father of two young sons, and to record a solo project called HARLEY'S WAR.

Flanagan is in jail awaiting a $25,000 bail, of which a percentage must be paid.

Friends and fans of Harley Flanagan have set us a defense fund to help cover his attorney fees and hopefully make his bail. Donations for the fund can be made here.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).