Female DJ Describes Getting Brutally Assaulted by Flow Festival Staff

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Fans and friends watched in horror as Flow Festival security violently beat Russian DJ and producer Inga Mauer.

Flow Festival security staff viciously assaulted and subsequently arrested Inga Mauer hours after her performance on Saturday.  Following her arrest at the Helsinki event, the Russian DJ and producer spent the night in a Finnish jail.  Police wouldn’t allow her to make contact with anyone from the outside world, according to the DJ’s account of the situation.

While in jail, Mauer took to her Facebook account to decry her treatment by event police.

“I’m in a prison cell.  The door is closed.  I don’t know anything.  I tried to get in touch with my friends, writing messages that I am locked up and I need help.  But it was late night and people were asleep.  The battery died.  I am alone.”

She told fans that she was okay, although terribly bruised.  She can’t laugh, hug, or sleep due to the bruises that she received at the Flow Festival.  Thanking festival owner Toni Rantanen for his help throughout the terrible ordeal, the DJ and producer wrote,

“I’m not okay.  I am covered with bruises, it hurts all over.  I cannot sleep, hug or even laugh.  It hurts.”

She also confirmed that she will take legal action against security staff.

“The case is opened.  There are lawyers involved.  We’ll find the bastards.”

But, what exactly happened at the Flow Festival?

Hours after Inga Mauer finished her set, security staff approached the performer.  Without warning, they suddenly grabbed her and dragged her away for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.  The DJ may have been lingering in an area that festival guards were trying to close, even though food was be actively served according to the DJ’s account.

Along with fans and other spectators, fellow Flow Festival performer and close friend Marie Davidson witnessed the assault.  She wrote on Facebook,

“Last night in Helsinki I witnessed a bunch of security guys hold a girl on the ground while she was screaming.  As I approached to try to help, I found out that this girl was actually my friend Inga Mauer, an artist who had played a killer set only 2 hours before.

“She said they violently dragged her out of one of the festival areas because she refused to leave right away.  I tried to interfere and explain that I knew her and that I wanted to help her calm down because she was extremely confused and scared.”

Violent security staff also arrested another performer for trying to help.

Once Davidson got involved, however, Flow Festival security staff proceed to arrest her as well.

She explained,

“As a result, we got both put aside, in a corner, isolated from the rest of the crowd.  I try to reach out to my friend but they wouldn’t let me touch her… told those men that we were both artists and that we were actually sober (we were not on drugs, only shared on bottle of wine together throughout the night).

“I kindly asked them if I could take her back to the hotel and leave the place… got no answer.”

As fans looked on in shock, the violent assault left Inga Mauer with a bloody knee.  Mauer later confirmed that she was half-naked on the floor with ten men who wouldn’t let her move.  They also didn’t allow her to cover herself up.

Thrown out into the street without a cellphone, money, nor a way to get back home.

Once police arrived, they arrested Inga Mauer and sent her to jail.  When Davidson protested, Flow Festival security staff grabbed her by the arms and threw her out into the street.  They subsequently laughed at Davidson’s pleas for help.

“The cops came and took my friend away to send her to jail, I begged them to let me go with her because she was crying and very scared, she was bleeding from her knee and was in shocked.  I just said “please, let me stay with her”.

“Two security guys took me by the arms and threw me out in the street out of the festival zone.  I told them I needed to at least be in touch with someone because I had no internet, no driver and no taxi where taking people to any place at this hour.  

“They laughed and said “go figure it out” and then closed the fence leaving me in a totally unknown place without any ways of reaching out for help.”

Helpful strangers in Helsinki gladly assisted Marie Davidson.  She was able to find a taxi to her hotel.

Marie Davidson posted an image of the graphic ordeal on her Facebook account.

According to Inga Mauer’s agency, while in jail, she was refused contact with any outside help, including festival promoters.  Once out of jail, however, Finnish police aided Inga Mauer.  At her hotel, officers helped Mauer search for her belongings.

Flow Festival organizers condemn the vicious assault.

Following the tragic events, Flow Festival organizers issued a statement condemning the treatment.  Speaking with Fact Mag, they vowed to launch a full investigation.

“We, the three partners of Flow Festival, Suvi Kallio, Tuomas Kallio and Toni Rantanen, are still at a loss for words and very sad about the episode that happened at the Flow Festival area early Sunday morning.  Inga Mauer and Marie Davidson are artists and lovely friends who Toni Rantanen booked to perform at the festival.  It came to our knowledge that members of the security staff had used violence against Inga Mauer.  Marie Davidson, who approached to try to help her, was inappropriately thrown out of the festival area.  Even the police who came to sort out the situation acted threateningly and refused to give us any information after taking Inga Mauer to jail overnight.

“Flow Festival does not approve the use of violence and we were shocked and very sad to hear this.  We are truly sorry for what Inga Mauer and Marie Davidson had to go through.

“Luckily we have video, photos and eyewitnesses. As festival organizers, we take responsibility of this incident and will make sure everything will be investigated and taken care of properly.  Serious discussions are underway with our lawyers and the subcontractor Local Crew Oy that was responsible for Flow Festival’s 2017 security.”

“Compensation for the victims must follow and something similar can never ever happen again.  The security company has been a trusted subcontractor for many years but now they have failed to do their job in the right manner.”

Inga’s harrowing account has since been removed from Facebook.   Here’s a snippet that we were able to save:

“Two people grabbed my hands and started dragging me on the ground, as if I were a sack of potatoes.  Next moment, there are five men around me, dragging me somewhere. They took me behind some fences and locked me away from my friends. I was alone. I looked like a real criminal, like I did something horribly bad. I was screaming for help and trying to get away.”

…

“I am happy that this happened. It’s during these moments I see how many beautiful people there are around me. We are responsible for what is happening in our surrounding. Not the web. The real life. Always show how you actually are. We must never just pass by. Never. Because then, one day, somebody would walk past you. If somebody is punching your friend, you should defend him. Life is relationships. Millions of relationships that we form and maintain.”

The entire incident is currently under investigation.  More as this develops.

Featured image on Twitter @ingamauer