On July 12, 1992, Axl Rose was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York immediately after stepping off a flight from Paris. The arrest was the result of an outstanding warrant related to the infamous “Riverport Riot” that had occurred a year earlier.
The legal trouble began during a Guns N’ Roses concert at the Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri. During the song “Rocket Queen,” Axl noticed a fan taking unauthorized photos. After security failed to intervene to Axl’s satisfaction, he famously shouted, “I’ll take it, goddamn it!” and dove into the crowd to tackle the fan and seize the camera.
After being pulled back onto the stage, Axl slammed his microphone down and announced, “Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I’m going home!” before walking off stage. The band followed him, and the crowd, angry that the show had ended early, erupted into a massive riot. The chaos resulted in dozens of injuries and hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage to the venue and the band’s equipment.
Axl had been out of the country on the European leg of the Use Your Illusion tour, effectively staying out of reach of Missouri authorities for a year. When his plane landed at JFK in 1992, U.S. Customs agents and police were waiting for him. He was charged with four counts of third-degree assault and one count of property damage. While the media captured iconic photos of a grinning Axl in the back of a police car, his legal team argued that the arrest was unnecessary because he had already planned to turn himself in later that week.



































