Update, March 22: Killer Mike has suffered a torn rotator cuff in the onstage attack.
Despite the events of Monday, Killer Mike returned to Austin with El-P to perform a show at Stubb’s BBQ on March 20, where he addressed the incident.
Though he flew home to Atlanta to see his doctor, who diagnosed him with a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder, Mike went against medical advice and refused to wear a sling, telling the crowd: “I was like, ‘doctor, I’m not leaving the road – the tour goes on!'” [via NME]
Update, March 19: The attacker reportedly claimed Run The Jewels owed him money and stole his lyrics.
Matt Sonzala, a gig promoter who watched the show in Austin, went with police to look for the mystery assailant after the show.
“After he was thrown out, I walked out and asked police working the line to get in if they planned on arresting the man who just attempted to assault the band onstage,” he told BuzzFeed News. “They come with me and we find him right around the corner from the venue — he’s sitting on a stoop, skull open, bleeding down his face. Police talk to him, come back and say to me they can’t arrest him based on my testimony alone.”
Police told Sonzala that the man claimed Run the Jewels owed him money and had stolen his lyrics. No arrest was made at the venue.
El-P tweeted about the incident and speculated that their attacker was “highly unstable”.
Run The Jewels duo El-P and Killer Mike were attacked onstage during a set at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas on Monday.
The incident briefly interrupted the pair’s gig at the Spotify House.
Footage of the fracas has since surfaced, showing an unidentified man entering the stage and approaching the pair in the middle of their performance. The man takes a swing at El-P, but not before Killer Mike and the duo’s crew members step in and intercept the would-be assailant. Run The Jewels then completed their show undeterred by the incident.
An audience member caught a brief video of the altercation and posted it to Instagram. Another video, further below, shows the same assailant fighting with audience members before he is knocked to the ground by a member of security. [via Billboard]
Don’t fuck with @RUNTHEJEWELS #ForRealTho #TheSpotifyHouse #SXSW #WeLive #SpotifyHouse A video posted by djfreeverse (@djfreeverse) on
Go to sleep trying to Run Them Jewels! #SXSW #RunTheJewels #CashThat #SpotifyHouse A video posted by djfreeverse (@djfreeverse) on
