NH police: Marilyn Manson agrees to turn himself in on warrant for assault

GILFORD, New Hampshire — Marilyn Manson has agreed to turn himself in on an arrest warrant stemming from an alleged assault that took place at a New Hampshire concert in 2019, police said.

Gilford, New Hampshire Police Chief Anthony J. Bean Burpee said an agreement was reached between prosecutors and Manson, whose given name is Brian Warner, to turn himself in to authorities in Los Angeles.

Last month, New Hampshire police said an arrest warrant was out for Warner over two counts of Class A misdemeanor Simple Assault.

“Our in-house Prosecutor has reached an agreement with Mr. Warner’s attorneys for him to turn himself in on the warrant in Los Angeles,” Burpee said in a statement. “Our Prosecutor has also spoken with a Detective at the Los Angeles Police Department in order to walk him through the process of what needs to take place regarding the processing of paperwork once Mr. Warner turns himself in.”

According to an earlier Facebook post by the Gilford Police Department, the warrant stems from an alleged incident that took place during Manson’s 2019 show at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion involving a videographer who was filming the rocker in the “stage pit area when the alleged assaults occurred.”

“Mr. Warner, his agent and legal counsel have been aware of the warrant for some time and no effort has been made by him to return to New Hampshire to answer the pending charges,” the post read.

In a statement to Pitchfork, Warner’s lawyer, Howard King, has said, “It is no secret to anyone who has attended a Marilyn Manson concert that he likes to be provocative on stage, especially in front of a camera.”

“This misdemeanor claim was pursued after we received a demand from a venue videographer for more than $35,000 after a small amount of spit came into contact with their arm,” the statement read. “After we asked for evidence of any alleged damages, we never received a reply. This whole claim is ludicrous, but we remain committed to cooperating with authorities, as we have done throughout.”

The arrest warrant came after several women have come forward with allegations that Warner had sexually assaulted and abused them, including his ex, Evan Rachel Wood, who wrote that he had “horrifically abused [her] for years.” Another ex, Esmé Bianco, as well as his former assistant, Ashley Walters, have filed lawsuits against Warner.

In response to Wood’s statement, Warner denied the allegations as “horrible distortions of reality.”

Burpee, the NH police chief, said that his department is working with Los Angeles detectives, who will process Warner once he turns himself in on the warrant.

“He will go through their booking and bail process, and be provided with an initial NH District Court appearance date, which will be determined once Mr. Warner turns himself in,” Burpee said.

The police chief said as is done is some cases, “Warner’s attorney may make a request to the court to seal the arrest warrant affidavit so that it is not available to the media or public prior to the court process” and that “such a request will either be approved or denied by a judge as that falls under the court’s purview.”

“What this all means for us is that – thanks to over 300,000 FB comments and shares (many besmirching our agency for even filing such charges), it has forced Mr. Warner to finally address his outstanding NH warrant, which will, in turn, allow the victim of the crime to have her say/day in Court in order to hopefully hold Mr. Warner accountable for his actions,” Burpee said.

“What our PD has no involvement in is whatever civil proceedings the victim may be pursuing against Mr. Warner as that it outside the law enforcement purview. The victim reported the alleged crime to us the day after she had been assaulted, which is contrary to a statement Mr. Warner’s LA-based attorney made regarding the fact the victim had been looking for a $30k payout and when turned down proceeded with filing a police report.  That is emphatically false.  Criminal investigations and civil suits run separately from one another.  Our investigation took several months to complete before we had adequate probable cause to apply for an arrest warrant and were subsequently granted one.  Therefore, between the reporting of the crime to police and the issuance of the arrest warrant is when, I am guessing, the victim filed a civil suit against Mr. Warner.”

The LA Country Sheriff’s opened an investigation into the allegations against Manson in February.

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