LIVERPOOL, England -- A member of the American punk-rap group Beastie Boys charged with assault in a riot at a weekend concert that injured five people was released on $16,100 bail Monday.
Beastie Boys manager Lyor Cohen denied the group had incited the riot and one of the performers called the charges 'completely false.'
A Liverpool magistrates court freed group member Adam Horowitz, son of playwright Israel Horowitz, on $16,100 bail to permit him to travel to Japan, the next stop on the Beastie Boys' world tour. The magistrates ordered him to return to England by July 21 to face possible trial.
Horowitz was arrested on a charge of assault causing serious bodily harm after an incident involving a fan at the Beastie Boys' Saturday night concert degenerated into a riotous barrage of bottles, beer cans and tear gas.
The Beastie Boys came to Britain amid complaints about their provocative language and behavior.
Some fans at the Liverpool concert accused the group of starting the fray by hurling beer cans into the crowd of 2,000. 'Everything they threw at us was thrown back -- and a lot more besides,' one fan said.
Sarah Champion, 16, said, 'One of the group got hold of a baseball bat and tried to hit the cans that were flying onto the stage. A lot of the cans were hitting people, and a lot of people were getting hurt.'
Five people were reported treated for injuries. The riot prompted Conservative Member of Parliament Harry Greenway to demand the Beastie Boys be banned from Britain.
'Their presence can no longer be tolerated in this country,' Greenway said. 'Wherever they go, they leave a trail of mayhem in their wake.'
But manager Cohen denied the group had incited the riot, charging rival groups of soccer hooligans apparently 'decided to use the Beastie Boys concert as their battleground.'
'The Beastie Boys are not about violence nor do they ever have any intention of inciting anyone to act in a violent manner,' he said. 'Although it's part of their stage act to spray (beer) at the audience, they do not throw cans at the audience.'
Diamond said he was onstage with 'Adam that night and the charges against him are completely false.'
In Washington, D.C. and other U.S. cities, there have been complaints from parents about the group's obscene language and rowdy behavoir during concerts.
