Anti-Flag broke up in July after allegations against a “singer of a political punk band” were made by Kristina Sarhadi on the Enough podcast. Though Sarhadi did not name Anti-Flag or their singer Justin Sane (real name Justin Cathal Geever), many believed she was referring to him. Geever then denied the allegations in a statement, saying, “I have never engaged in a sexual relationship that was not consensual, nor have I ever been approached by a woman after a sexual encounter and been told I had in any way acted without her consent or violated her in any way.” The other three members of the band–Pat Thetic, Chris “#2” Barker and Chris Head–issued their own statement saying they “have been shocked, confused, saddened and absolutely heartbroken from the moment we heard these allegations,” but added, “While we believe this is extremely serious, in the last 30 years we have never seen Justin be violent or aggressive toward women.”
In a new report on Rolling Stone, Sarhadi confirms that her story was about Justin Sane, and 12 other women have come forward accusing Geever of predatory behavior and sexual assault, describing alleged encounters that date back to the 1990s and have occurred as recently as 2020. Multiple women claim to have been teenagers encountering Geever while he was in his 20s or 30s. One says she was 12 when Geever was 17. Another woman filed a police report accusing Geever of sexual assault in 2020 in the UK, though police declined to move forward because the woman never told Geever “no.”
Multiple women describe having similar experiences with Geever, stating that he would become very aggressive and cross boundaries without consent, acting as a much different person than the activist and feminist that he would present himself as to the public. One woman–who says she was 17 when Geever took her virginity–accuses Geever of lying about his age, saying he was 19 when he was actually 30. Multiple women expressed disgust with the statement Geever gave after the initial allegations were publicized, and claim that it was a lie that he had never been approached by any women about these alleged encounters in the past. Some of the women also suggested that the other members of Anti-Flag should have acknowledged the blind eye they turned over the years, and that other band members were sometimes present when Geever brought women on tour, backstage, or on the tour bus when they were teenagers. “They knew how young everybody was,” a woman named Rebecca, who dated Geever when he was 25, told Rolling Stone. “There was a clear boundary that he kept crossing over and over that should have raised flags for everybody.”
The other members of Anti-Flag gave a statement to Rolling Stone saying that their trust has “wholly been broken” and that they are “disturbed by the efforts taken to conceal information from us,” adding, “We trusted everyone associated with the band to maintain a safe and respectful environment. The understanding that abusers can be anywhere further reinforces the importance of survivors speaking out and sharing their stories.… Further, we feel strongly that all predators must atone for their inappropriate actions and be held accountable.”
Justin Sane declined to give Rolling Stone comment. You can read the full report here.
—
If you or someone you know is suffering from sexual violence, please contact RAINN or call the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.