Blood Orange's Dev Hynes says he and his girlfriend were 'assaulted by security' after performing at Lollapalooza festival
Hynes tweeted that he and his girlfriend, Samantha Urbani, were 'assaulted by three security guards'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.British singer and producer Dev Hynes has appealed for witnesses after he was allegedly "jumped by three security guards", following his performance at the Lollapalooza music festival.
Hynes tweeted that he and his girlfriend, Samantha Urbani, were “assaulted by three security guards” on Friday evening, hours after the Blood Orange singer performed at the festival in Chicago’s Grant Park.
Hynes said that Urbani was “grabbed” by the security men and when he asked the men “what they were doing?” he was, he alleged, “grabbed by neck” and “thrown to the ground”.
According to Hynes, the incident left him “bruised” and “shaken” but "blessed to be alive in this world."
After the alleged attack, Hynes announced that he would be pressing charges and appealed for anyone that may have witnessed the incident to come forward.
He wrote: “Everyone saw it. We are pressing charges, I can't believe it. I'm so upset. Why is this still happening? I just want to make music”
Following his appeal, a number of other Facebook and Twitter users had got in contact with Hynes to tell him that their comments about the alleged incident had been taken down by the page’s administrators.
Ms Urbani tweeted: “Shaking/crying feeling extremely violated &generally unsafe, beyond sad we missed the Eminem show we were so psyched 4.”
The reports of the assault came after Hynes posted an image online of him wearing a t-shirt with the names of Trayvon Martin, the teenager shot dead in 2012 by George Zimmerman, and Eric Garner, the New York father-of-six who died in police custody last month.
Under a picture of him wearing the t-shirt he wrote: Samantha & I made this T-shirt which I'm wearing today. The set is dedicated to these names & more. We remember.”
Hynes referenced this in a tweet following the attack when he wrote: "I'm in pain, what the fuck. The irony after my t shirt and message this morning, we are in shock."
A spokeswoman from Lollapalooza said: “Late Friday night, we learned of an incident involving an artist and a security guard on site. Since then, we have been in contact with those involved and the authorities, as we work together to resolve the situation. As always, our top priority is to ensure the safety of everyone at the festival.”