Ohio garage-rock band Good English saw the cancellation of all four of their upcoming Brooklyn shows after it was revealed that their drummer Leslie Rasmussen wrote a character statement in support of Stanford rapist Brock Turner.
Turner was arrested for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in early 2015 and faced up to 10 years in jail, but was only sentenced to six months this past Thursday. Rasmussen graduated from the same high school from Turner and was friends with him growing up. Rasmussen wrote a letter to Judge Aaron Persky about her friendship with Turner.
Rasmussen’s letter on behalf of Turner has garnered significant criticism, particularly for her suggestion that “rape on campuses isn’t always because people are rapists.”
Good English were slated to perform this weekend at Brooklyn venues The Rock Shop and Industry City Distillery, Gold Sounds and two shows at Bar Matchless but all shows have since been cancelled. The Bar Matchless shows were apart of Northside Festival, who quickly dropped the trio after news of Rasmussen’s letter got out.
On Tuesday night, the band released a statement regarding the situation via Facebook, which has since been deleted. In it, Rasmussen claimed that people have “misconstrued” her ideas.
“There is nothing more sad than the unnecessary, destructive and enormous toll that overuse, misuse and abuse of alcohol and drugs play in people’s lives, and I don’t think my effort to point this out in confidence to a judge while commenting on Brock Turner’s character, as the sober person I knew him to be, was an irresponsible or reckless decision,” Rasmussen wrote in the statement. “Unfortunately, due to the overzealous nature of social media and the lack of confidence and privacy in which my letter to the judge was held, I am now thrust into the public eye to defend my position on this matter in the court of public opinion.”
Along with their Facebook, the band also deleted their Bandcamp, Twitter and official website on Tuesday night.
Here is the letter she sent to the judge:
