[sharktrager]

A prior story had a comment from someone who was familiar with the case and it seems the reporting is somewhat off.

They said the "secluded boathouse" was neither secluded nor a boathouse. On top of that, the photos were supposedly just pictures of the girl riding his Segway, which is something he had let othe people do earlier in the night.

The kid's mom freaked because she didn't know where her child was, and the Angels jumped to conclusions.

One thing that bothers me about FR is that so many people think the press is full of sensationalists and liars, until the story is about someone who's politics we don't like.

[alisasny]

I also find it bizarre that street justice is OK with some on this situation even when we dont know the facts.

[Jaded]

Reporting somewhat off? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you! The media misrepresenting facts? Well h*ll, there goes the last illusion that I harbored. Just damn.

/so

There are several things about this entire situation I would find objectionable for a 9 year old.

[tdadams]

One thing that bothers me about FR is that so many people think the press is full of sensationalists and liars, until the story is about someone who's politics we don't like.

You're making one big leap there. I don't know his politics and couldn't care less. I consider the source credible. Maybe you're just a defensive Phish fan.

[Rubber_Duckie_27]

I've spoken with several people who were backstage and witnessed all or some of this incident. Gordon was giving rides backstage to a number of people on his Segway, including the little girl. He was taking pictures of most of the people taking it for a spin, including the girl.

Apparently mommy (who looked intoxicated and/or high as a kite) freaked out in a big way when she couldn't find her kid (what the heck is a 9 year old doing at a Dead concert at 1 AM?!?). When she was found, the little girl said (truthfully) that Gordon had taken pictures of her, and mommy further freaked out, causing the Hell's Angels to, ahem, restrain him until police arrived.

The area is not secluded and at least 2 or 3 venue security staff were there. It is, after all, an alternative entrance to the venue, and they need to prevent gatecrashers from getting in.

The family decided not to press charges, and the Hell's Angel father has told the press that things have been blown out of proportion. If a Hell's Angel caught some guy molesting his kid or being sexually inappropriate, I'm inclined to believe that the guy would get much worse than a kick in the groin.

The story was written with an obvious bias. Look, Mike's weird...but if he'd been molesting kids backstage, he'd have been caught long ago. I'm not a big Phish fan, so that's not why I say this...but WNBC put a definite tabloid-ish spin on the whole thing.