American Hardcore author Steven Blush recently wrote a piece for Papermag about the  violent backstage fight involving Harley Flanagan earlier this month at CBGB Fest. The former Cro-Mags bassist has been charged with assault and criminal weapons possession for allegedly stabbing Michael Couls, a current member of his former band, as well as William Berario (whom he allegedly stabbed and also bit on the face). Blush has since spoke with Flanagan and his lawyer about the attack -- an incident that Flanagan believes was set-up.

Last week I spoke with Harley Flanagan and his lawyer and learned that all of the witnesses from the backstage incident who were available to the prosecutor had failed to appear. This turns the case on its head and suggests that not just the piece I wrote but everyone who wrote about the incident --  from the Times and Post to various websites -- dropped the ball by reporting only one side to the story: that a jealous, angry Flanagan had snuck backstage at CBGB Fest looking for a fight. Flanagan and his lawyer, however, claim that he was lured backstage, attacked and stabbed a la "an old-school biker beatdown," and that he acted in self-defense. After interviewing them both, I think it's time for some new looks at the facts.

To accept Harley's "beatdown" scenario is to accede to a not-totally-unlikely conspiracy involving his long-standing beefs with the intimidating DMS street gang (mostly over who did what to whom back in the day ) as well as other NYHC elements. Anyone who knows the tough new punk subculture around DMS realizes nothing is beyond the pale. From a cozy media or pop culture perspective, it may seem difficult or too simplistic to fathom the incident as a set-up or some sort of pre-meditated attempt at "street justice" (a Cro-Mags anthem), but where there's smoke, there's fire.

It's true that at the CBGB Festival screening of American Hardcore earlier that day Flanagan was irked by his former band's snub of his offer to do a song together that night, but that makes sense. Mostly, however, Flanagan was hanging out in the green room with his two boys, to whom he's devoted, later taking them to watch him teach his 5 p.m. Jiu Jitsu class in Midtown before taking them home to Queens. He then returned to the city to catch the early Cro-Mags concert.

Though it was widely reported that Flanagan had sneaked backstage at the festival, he actually received an all-access badge from the CBGB Festival in recognition of his history with the club. He went to watch the show because he said it was an opportunity to freely check out the group he co-created and also said he thought a face-to-face encounter with the band might smooth things over.

Flanagan and I spoke upon his hospital release for a serious leg infection that resulted from a stab wound (Flanagan did not suffer a compound fracture, as reported). He says he was invited backstage by fill-in Cro-Mags bassist Mike Couls, whom he knew socially. Once backstage he said he felt something was wrong and that he'd been set up.

"I was invited to the festival and did some press and was given passes," Flanagan said. "I foolishly went to the show thinking it would be a positive thing to do. I was invited into the dressing room and got jumped by eight guys, and I got stabbed. I can't go into the details, but I went there with a smile on my face and I got attacked. When I was fighting these guys, all I could think of was my kids ... I acted solely in self-defense but people put crazy spins on all this. I was sitting in my cell reading a paper and my jaw almost hit the floor. Every quote I read
from top to bottom was a lie. I got threats for a long time, and there's this DMS song where the last two minutes are threats on my life and my family. That John [Joseph] would align himself with these people goes against everything he supposedly stands for. A spiritual person obviously he's not, and it's a sad shame."

John Joseph and Flanagan have been at war for years -- their friction as big a part of the Mags' legend as their music -- culminating when Flanagan threw Joseph out of the band in 1987. Flanagan's Cro-Mags went on to make powerful records in 1989's Best Wishes, 1992's Alpha-Omega and 2000's Revenge, but nothing approaches the original band's 1986 The Age Of Quarrel. It should be said that John was not in the room during the attack.

In a twist of fate, Flanagan's court-appointed Legal Aid Society attorney Sean T. Parmenter grew up a punk fan. "I've handled lots of cases in my 12 years," says Parmenter, "and it's shocking how quickly people were to jump in and judge Harley and not question whether this story was accurate. Given this setting and everything hardcore entails, the fact that people didn't believe Harley acted in self defense and would not reserve judgment until this case is finished was astounding. These things don't just happen in a vacuum. The setting and all the players should be looked at. The real question is, who initiated the fight? There's a lot of facts that you would think people would stop and question, and all that needs to be looked into. This is what the prosecutor needs to look at. And I hope DA Vance's office will do it. The only player here is the prosecutor."

The fact that a vicious beatdown went down in a Webster Hall VIP-only backstage room -- combined with all these witnesses vanishing -- also begs bigger questions. How is it possible that at such an early evening, tightly run, crowded scene-heavy gig, nobody saw what went down? And why were none of the other bandmembers backstage when the incident happened, right before showtime? It would be very upsetting if any of his ex-mates knew about this, because no matter what the beef, these guys came up together, and made some incredibly powerful music that stands the test of time. Needless to say, things will get very interesting if and when they go to court.