More women accuse Anti-Flag’s Justin Sane of sexual assault

Twelve more women have come forward to allege that Anti-Flag frontman Justin Sane had sexually assaulted them.

Allegations against Sane had first surfaced in July when a woman claimed on a podcast than she had been raped by a punk singer, who initially wasn’t named. Anti-Flag subsequently disbanded, but Sane later released a statement in which he called the allegations “categorically false”.

His former bandmates released a separate statement regarding the split and allegations that read: “A core tenet of the band Anti-Flag is to listen to and believe all survivors of sexual violence and abuse. The recent allegations about Justin are in direct contradiction to that tenet. Therefore, we felt the only immediate option was to disband.”

They added that they had “never seen Justin be violent or aggressive toward women” in the 30 years of the band’s lifetime.

Now, a new report by Rolling Stone has published the accounts of numerous other women accusing Sane of sexual assault in incidents that date from the ’90s to as recently as 2020. Their accounts follow a similar pattern – Sane would allegedly make eye contact with them while performing and then approach them after the show. Many of these women claim they were much younger than Sane when these incidents happened, and the piece also accuses Sane having sex with teenagers. One of these incidents allegedly involved a 12-year-old (though Sane was a teenager at the time).

In addition, the first woman making allegations confirmed that Sane was the man she had mentioned.

Justin Sane and Chris Head of Anti-Flag perform on stage at Riot Fest Chicago 2014 at Humboldt Park on September 13, 2014 in Chicago, United States. Credit: Daniel Boczarski/GETTY

Some of the women allege that their encounters with Sane were violent and non-consensual. One of them is said to have reported an incident to the police, claiming Sane had handcuffed and assaulted her, in the UK in 2020. The woman involved said police had decided not to prosecute.

In addition, multiple women involved in the article accused Sane’s bandmates of complacency. “They knew how young everybody was. There was a clear boundary that he kept crossing over and over that should have raised flags for everybody,” one of them said.

In a statement to Rolling Stone, the other Anti-Flag members said: “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.”

Sane, meanwhile, did not respond to requests for comment.

For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN

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