On June 17, about 20 men stormed the Velvet Indieground record store in Istanbul's hip Cihangir district with sticks and makeshift weapons. The people in the store were celebrating the release of British rock band Radiohead's new album. One of those attacked told Reuters the angry mob beat victims over the head with bottles. The mob left yelling things like "This is Turkey, you cannot drink [alcohol] during Ramadan" and "Let's see if you dare to drink alcohol again, we will set you on fire."

The incident was captured and aired live on Periscope. For the next 24 hours, no one was taken into custody, even though the identities of the attackers and the threats they made were clear with video, voice recordings and eyewitness accounts. After the attack, Radiohead issued a statement to international news outlets. Residents of Istanbul — as well as others — organized a physical protest by using the social media hashtag #Cumartesi21decihangirdeyiz ("On Saturday [June 18] at 9 p.m. we are at Cihangir"). During that event, police attacked the peaceful protesters with tear gas, water cannons and batons.

There are three main reasons why people felt this protest was important. First, the threat to burn people inside a building reminded some of the horrible Madimak hotel incident of 1993, when angry mobs burned down a building full of intellectuals and artists, claiming they were atheists. Second, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed calls June 17 to build a controversial historical monument in Gezi Park, a monument that evokes Islamism in many minds. The 2013 protests against the proposal left four dead and thousands wounded. Finally, the governor of Istanbul banned the LGBT honor parade scheduled for June 19.

Traditionally, crime rates in Turkey would be at their lowest during the holy month of Ramadan. Now, Ramadan has almost become an excuse for hate crimes.