Lithuanian artist Alen Chicco suffered a homophobic attack in one of Vilnius bars

Last weekend for Tomas Alenčikas-Alen Chicco was extremely uncomfortable – a visit into one of the bars ended in an assault and beating.

“No, it is not filter, it’s Lithuania”, after publishing the photo, wrote Alen Chicco.

When journalists contacted Tomas, he said that he had been attacked on Sunday night at the “Pilėnai” bar in Vilnius. According to the artist, it was not only him who had been beaten, it was his friend, with whom he had fun that night as well.

“Two of us got injured, the third girl was not injured, she just screamed”, artist said. He told that he remembers how the conflict that caused violence occurred, but he is unable to tell why it has happened.

“At the second hour after my concert, we went to the bar for a drink. Together with my roommate we live right next to the bar “Pilėnai”, but we have never been there, we did not know what kind of bar it is neither what happens there. After my concert I was still wearing my wig and had my make-up on. We went into that bar, there was such an environment as if you would have walked into a communist-metalist gathering”, shared Alen Chicco.

As the artist said, he and his company of friends just wanted to drink one glass of beer and go home, unfortunately, theirs plans turned into unexpected direction.

“We stood up near the bar, at the same time one girl turned into us and said “you are a man”. I started to laugh: well, yes, if you want to call me as a man, then okay”. She told me that we should not be here. As I turned to the other side, I was hit to my face without any warnings, incantations or anything like that. I got dizzy by that blow,” said the artist, adding that the attacker was a “neo-Nazi”.

The artist claimed that it was the exact time when the confusion started. The singer was suggested to leave this place as soon as possible.

“I told him, that I cannot leave because my friends are still here. Then I saw that my friend, my roommate got pushed to the ground and they kicked her”, musician told and added that both of them were beaten by the same man.

Later, according to Alen Chicco, the perpetrator returned to hit again, but a third member of their trio stood against him. “Somehow he got frightened of her, maybe because she was screaming out loud”, singer was considering.

Once the member of the company called the police, the abuser was taken into a custody. As the representatives of Vilnius police told for the journalists, that man got an administrative fine.

“Why do I want to make this story public? Because it is that kind of bar, where the same scenario might happen again”, told the artist why he decided to make this story public. He remembered the other bar “Psichbaris” in which that kind of conflicts occurred very often.

“The bartenders haven’t anything. There was no security. After we went outside, the owner of the bar asked us why we even came here. And there was no one, who could stop the abuser, told Alen Chicco.

After the occurred conflict, the artist’s eye is still swollen, and his friend had to suffer from stomach aches, as the abuser had kicked exactly at her stomach. Of course, moral grief has remained far more severe – the belief that such attacks are still ongoing in Lithuania.

“This is not the first time, it has happened during the Baltic Pride, there were also some kind of Nazis or homophobes. They are all the same, they hates people like us”, the singer said, pointing out that if he had gone to the bar alone, probably he would have had more injuries right now.

Singer has not written a statement regarding this attacker to the police.

“I felt really bad that night, I was sick, so I did not go to write a statement. Now me and my friends are thinking that it is necessary for him to pay for what he has done, and the bar should take responsibility too”, the artist considered.

Vilnius County police headquarters confirmed Alen’s Chicco story to journalists. According to them, about 10 people were fighting during the conflict. By the time the police cars arrived, the fighting had already stopped. One person, that was born in 1974, received a record of administrative misconduct and ruling.

When journalists called the number, that was indicated in “Pilėnai” bar’s Facebook profile, the man, who answered the phone told them, that he is not the owner of the bar, he is a spokesman.

“Which artist? Who is this artist? Is it the same one, who was in Belarus?”, the man was asking when he heard Alen’s Chicco name. “In our bar no one could have been beaten”, stated a representative of the bar.

Of course, after mentioning the fact, that this event was recorded by the police, interlocutor has suddenly remembered this incident. He told, that he saw this incident, however, he declined to talk about the incident, still offering to come to the bar.

“I am sorry, have you ever been to “Pilėnai”? Come here and you will see that the people who come here are informal, so he could not surprised anyone here. And if he was drunk while fighting, then…”,- the employee of “Pilėnai” told.

When he was asked if the bartenders have not reacted and they never react at such incidents, the bar’s representative told that they are not the police, so they do not have to deal with that kind of problems.

“This is what police is for. The bar is a non-violent structure, where people go to have fun”, he said. The spokesperson, who refused to answer the questions about the conflict, exclaimed at the end of conversation “You have not been there, so what you are talking about is a complete non-sense. Goodbye. “

When the artist Justė Arlauskaitė-Jazzu saw what happened to her friend, that she met in the project “X factor”, she posted on her Instagram profile “Life has already hurt you”.

Jazzu has not only poured out her anger to the attackers, but also shared beautiful words for Alen Chicco: “I love you, your art, your soul and your expression. You do the things that are really important, you are a mega-talent and you are one of my biggest inspirations”.