ALIEN ANT FARM frontman charged with battery after pulling male fan's hand into his genitals
09-01-2023
According to the Daily Mail, ALIEN ANT FARM frontman Dryden Mitchell has been charged with battery after pulling a male fan’s hand into his crotch during a concert.
The incident occurred when the long-running Californian rock band was performing at the Broward Center For The Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on October 29, 2022.
While ALIEN ANT FARM was playing its cover of Michael Jackson‘s “Smooth Criminal”, Mitchell inexplicably clenched a fan’s outreached hand and placed it on his groin, at which point the fan quickly yanked his hand from the lead singer’s grasp (see video below).
The fan reportedly filed a report at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department two weeks later, claiming Mitchell had assaulted him.
On December 30, the Broward State Attorney’s Office filed a first-degree misdemeanor charge against Mitchell, who is facing up to one year in jail if convicted.
In their report, the police wrote: “The fan said he had his fist in the air and was trying to get a picture with Mitchell. He advised that Mitchell grabbed his fist while it was in the air and pulled the fist into his private area genital area against his pants. He stated he immediately pulled his hand away at that point.
The fan told police that he decided to report the crime well after the fact because it “was not sitting well with him.”
“He did not feel this was proper behavior to do in front of all the concertgoers and also stated there were kids in the crowd as well,” police wrote. “The fan advised he wanted to report the incident to police.”
Reached by phone, the fan told the Daily Mail he had no idea what prompted Mitchell to do what he did and said he was saving further comment for a later time.
“I do want to tell my story but I do have to listen to my civil lawyers,” said the man. “I’ll be more than happy to speak later. I do want the story out there because what happened was not right.”
This isn’t the first time a member of ALIEN ANT FARM has been accused of assaulting a fan. In 2016, guitarist Terry Corso assaulted a fan at a show in the United Kingdom after the fan threw liquid at him. The musician assumed it was urine because he had been doused with urine at a show just two days earlier. “He felt angry at that so he confronted the fan and ended up hitting him once,” Corso‘s attorney said at the time. “He regrets his actions and says he never should have jumped off the stage.”
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