Two Signal Mountain, TN men were brutally beaten inside a music venue in Chattanooga Wednesday night. Charles Banks, 23, and Kyle Chark, 20, were treated at the scene at The Signal after a Whitey Morgan concert around 11:15 pm. Police are investigating the incident, but despite there being 700 or more in attendance, no witnesses have come forward.
“Oh, those guys who were talking the whole damn concert?” asked Mandy Ranier, a Morgan fan. “I didn’t see anything, but honestly I don’t feel bad for them.” She described how the two kept a conversation about Tennessee Volunteers football going for the duration of the concert, never lowering their volume even during the quieter songs. “It was a pretty rowdy show, I bruised my knuckles on both hands really bad, but again, I have no idea what happened to those guys.”
Headliner Morgan had to stop the show three times to ask the two to keep it down or move to the bar area. “I get it.” said Morgan, “You haven’t seen your buddy all week and wanna chat… but have some respect for the people who are there for the music; there are plenty of other drinking establishments.” Morgan, who was also nursing a wound on his right hand, said that he never saw a fight take place.
Banks and Chark sustained bruises, cuts, torn clothing, and mild concussions in the fray. The two told police that during the concert’s encore (they think it was the encore - they weren’t really paying attention), between 15-700 members of the audience began punching, kicking, slapping, and pushing them. Banks even alleges that Whitey Morgan himself dove off the stage and landed a superman punch, but no one else has corroborated that claim.
Despite the fracas taking place directly in front of the stage (according to the pair), there was no report of a disturbance and the police were only called when Chark awoke in the alley out back and called them himself.
Morgan takes his show to the Lewis & Clark Brewing Co. in Helena, MT tonight, where he is fairly certain there will be no rude people in attendance.
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