In July 2012, New York's multi-venue CBGB's Festival was tainted by an incident involving former Cro-Mags founding bassist Harley Flanagan. An altercation occurred between Flanagan and current Cro-Mags members where the bassist apparently pulled out a hunting knife and slashed multiple people. Flanagan maintained that his actions were in self-defense, leading to an eventual dismissal of his assault case. Now, Flanagan, the Webster Hall venue and the festival's promoters are now being sued for damages and failing to provide adequate security.

Flanagan allegedly stormed into the VIP section of NYC's Webster Hall, where Cro-Mags were scheduled to play a show with Sick of it All, and slashed Cro-Mags part-time, fill-in bassist Michael Couls and another man, William Bernardo, even biting the former. Both victims were brought to a nearby hospital, but so was Flanagan after he suffered a broken leg while venue security subdued the scorn bassist.

A war of words erupted between the two parties after the attack, with both sides claiming that they were ambushed by the other party. Surprisingly, charges against Flanagan were dropped in December.

“The uninvited defendant, Harley Flanagan, gained access to the VIP area “because the hall failed to hire sufficiently trained security personal to protect the plaintiffs,” the Manhattan Supreme Court suit alleges according to the New York Post. Compensation requested for the damages in question have not yet been made public, but stay tuned as further news breaks.

This story has been updated to reflect a clarifying statement by Cro-Mags frontman John Joseph, who writes, "The Cro-Mags aren't suing anyone so get your f---ing fax straight people... our part-time fill in bass player is suing Webster Hall for his hospital bills. The Cro-Mags aren't suing anyone. I don't give two fux about all this but when you outright post bulls--t I'm gonna speak on it."

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