Former Anti-Flag frontman Justin Sane – real name Justin Geever – is being sued for sexual assault by a woman named Kristina Sarhadi. According to Rolling Stone, the lawsuit was filed on November 22 against Sane and Anti-Flag's distribution company Hardwork Distribution, which is owned by Anti-Flag members Pat Thetic (Patrick Bollinger), Chris Head, and Chris No. 2 (Chris Barker).
Sarhadi's lawsuit was filed under New York's Adult Survivors Act, which was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2022 and creates a one-year window for survivors of sexual assault that occurred when they were over 18 years old to sue their abusers regardless of when the abuse occurred.
"Justin Geever used his platform as a celebrated, self-proclaimed 'punk rock star' to groom and lure vulnerable girls into feeling safe in his presence," Sarhadi says in a statement. "While he sang about protecting women and standing up to abusers, it appears he was hiding an addiction to power and control, harming countless women who have been unable to speak up before now. Today I hope to encourage his survivors, and survivors of other predators in the music industry, to feel hope again."
Sarhadi originally came forward with allegations against Geever in July 2023 in an episode of the Enough podcast. Sarhadi said Geever sexually assaulted her in October 2010 when she was 22 years old, saying in part: "It was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. I can't stress how violent he was and how much I fully believed I was going to die, that he was going to kill me."
Sarhadi is hardly the first woman to speak up against Geever, as 12 separate women have voiced similar accusations – though some say they were as young as 15 years old when they were assaulted. Anti-Flag released a statement around that same time (after breaking up in July), saying in part: "To Justin, we believe you are very sick and in need of serious professional help. We want to have compassion and have faith in restorative justice, but fuck you for hurting so many people, not just the ones who have bravely come forward, but anyone still carrying their pain internally."
The lawsuit includes Hardwork Distribution as Sarhadi claims the band "should have known" about Geever's misdeeds and that they "had a duty of reasonable care to enact policies and procedures to protect fans."
"The decision to file a lawsuit takes great courage and is often not possible for so many survivors of sexual assault," says Sarhadi's attorney, Karen Barth Menzies. "Accountability is only attainable when survivors stand up for themselves and each other."
"I predict that in five years the music industry will be viewed the same way as the Catholic Church or the Boy Scouts — a powerful force that also enabled and shielded sexual predators for decades," said Sarhadi's other attorney, Dr. Ann Olivarius. "'Drugs, sex & rock 'n roll' was a reality that meant a lot of young women got abused. The bands had handlers who made it all happen and executives who covered it all up because so much money depended on it."
