Anti-Flag's Justin Sane plans to flee the U.S. according to accuser, read the full complaint here

Former Anti-Flag frontman Justin Sane, also known as Justin Geever, is under fire as allegations surface that he is planning to flee the U.S. amidst a brewing legal storm. Kristina Sarhadi, one of the accusers in a sexual assault case against Geever, claims to have been trying to serve him with the lawsuit since last year, only to be met with evasion tactics.

Recently Sarhadi amended her complaint and released a lengthy statement on March 16th via her website, accusing him of purposefully avoiding being served with legal documents through the sale of his Pittsburgh home and the transfer of funds overseas. 

The complaint states that Geever, who allegedly holds dual citizenship and an Irish passport "sought to hide his assets by transferring funds overseas to an Irish bank account," and that he "plans to flee to Europe within the next few days," potentially evading the lawsuit. 

The full statement reads:

On March 14th, the offices of McAllister Olivarius and KBM Law filed an Amended Complaint in my lawsuit against Justin "Sane" Geever and his band Anti-Flag, known by their business entity, Hardwork Distribution Inc. Since I filed this case in November 2023, my determination to hold predators and enablers accountable has grown exponentially. Unfortunately, so has the number of survivors who continue to reach out to me with their own stories of sexual violence by Justin Geever. 

Out of public view the four former members of Anti-Flag have taken extreme steps to avoid responsibility, evade the justice system and diminish the experiences of the countless women harmed both by their singer's crimes and their own complicity. This Amended Complaint provides even more detail about Geever's decades of predation in plain sight, the culpability of his bandmates, who lived, worked, traveled and witnessed his behavior night after night for 35 years, and the ever-increasing volume of complaints we continue to receive from around the world.

Since November, Geever has persistently tried to avoid service of this lawsuit. Instead, he has enlisted the help of his large and wealthy family and has plans to flee the country this week. Several sources have confirmed the recent sale of his house in Pittsburgh and the wire transfer of his assets to a bank in Ireland, where he maintains dual citizenship. As savvy Redditers predicted last July, this "punk rock hero" has no intention of facing the music. He continues to evade the law and the growing list of allegations against him by seeking a new life—and a potential new victim pool—in Europe. Although Geever is now 51 years old, his family members have rallied to assist his exit strategy and his sister Mary, a practicing lawyer, has been granted Power of Attorney in his absence.

Geever's former bandmates, Chris Barker, Chris Head and Pat Bollinger have remained silent, while isolating themselves from Geever by buying him out of Hardwork, I believe in hopes of diminishing their own liability. Despite Anti-Flag's celebrated history of activism in support of women's safety and their decades preaching "Silence is Violence," we now know that the band was approached about Geever's predatory behavior at least 25 years ago and did nothing to stop him. They chose their business prospects over the welfare of their fans. For decades, these men financially and socially benefited from Geever's predation while pretending not to see it. 

Had someone with power and opportunity stepped in to disrupt the constant, obvious flow of teenagers and young women into Geever's orbit since the early 1990's, they likely could have prevented the rape in 2010 that has stunted and scarred my life. They could have protected me and so many others. 

From the beginning I have sought for Chris, Chris and Pat to use this moment of reckoning as an opportunity for honest, productive conversation about what men in the music industry can do to identify and eradicate grooming and sexual violence. I hoped they would see the potential for radical openness and education and join our movement. 

Instead, they have spent substantial funds in hiring the Head of the New York City office of Buchanan Ingersol and Rooney and former criminal defense attorney, Stuart Slotnick, to fight my claims. The band would rather hire a Big Law attorney than accept responsibility for what has happened to me and countless other survivors. 

Acting through intermediaries, Anti-Flag sent me messages of support and offers to "make things right." I waited for tangible acts. Instead, Anti-Flag sought to coax my forgiveness through a Restorative Justice process. As a social worker, I believe in the ideals of Restorative Justice, but I know that it succeeds only when the offender admits causing harm and begins the conversation with an apology. 

To date, no member of Anti-Flag has owned up to their actions or apologized for failing their duty to reasonably protect their fans and community. 

In early 2024, these Restorative Justice conversations came to an end. As we have seen in many legal cases, Anti-Flag's attempt to mollify me and my sister-survivors through Restorative Justice proved less altruistic than mercenary; they hoped to maneuver me into submission as they have done with at least one fellow survivor. They were wrong. 

Recently, through a mutual friend, I was told that the band offered to transform leftover Anti-Flag shirts into shirts for my nonprofit, The Punk Rock Therapist. They suggested printing over and selling the new merchandise to help support our mission of providing free therapy to survivors of sexual predators like Geever. Since we have provided over $65,000 worth of free therapy to survivors in our first six months alone, I thought this potential collaboration could help victims and send a powerful message about the impact of ultimately doing the right thing. But the offer now appears not to be real. While Anti-Flag presented themselves as punks and radical outliers from the mainstream, they have proven to be no different from other "rock stars" who continue to assault and abuse fans with impunity. I believe they plan to wait out my lawsuit and get back on stage as soon as the world forgets me. 

As lead counsel for my case, renowned feminist lawyer Dr. Ann Olivarius observed, "The pattern in the music industry for decades was that rock stars could get away with almost anything if the money kept coming in. Executives, roadies, and other musicians turned a blind eye." 

Another attorney on this case, Karen Barth Menzies, who spent her formative years in the LA punk scene, agrees that by taking this action—standing up against the wrongs, hypocrisy and greed of the establishment that Anti-Flag now represents—we embody the core tenets of punk culture. "Anti-Flag is the ultimate sell-out," she writes, "Their sinister use of feminism to further their greed and allow the sexual assault of women is now obvious, especially from their reaction to this lawsuit. Even after all she's been through, Kristina was willing to forgive and allow space for healing. In response, Anti-Flag continued their deceit and manipulation. Kristina's courage and conviction to act against a powerful establishment has revealed the ugly truth about Anti-Flag and about this industry." 

Samantha Maloney, my friend, CEO and fellow Co-Founder of The Punk Rock Therapist, agrees. "If the rest of Anti-Flag want to do the right thing, they can do the most punk thing ever—sell their band's property and investments and divert future income of merch, publishing, streaming rights and royalties directly to TPRT to fund therapy for the dozens of victims they have allowed to be harmed for over 30 years." 

Short of a tangible action like this, it is unlikely that Chris, Chris or Pat will be able to continue their music careers. Their failure to acknowledge any culpability precludes their being seen as the "heroes" and "Good Guys" they would like to be. Coming forward with a creative offer of resolution, such as directly funding therapy for Geever's victims, would be unprecedented in music history, and could help restore some sense of hope to those feeling betrayed by the silence around sexual violence. 

My team files this Amended Complaint as part of our ongoing efforts to prevent Justin Geever from harming any more women or children, and to educate our communities that bystanders and enablers are dangerous too. Survivors like me, my clients through The Punk Rock Therapist, our sister-survivors and allies in the punk scene and beyond will not stop seeking justice, no matter how far predators may run, and how many enablers help them hide. 

The men on stage are not our heroes. Anyone can write a song about feminism. Anyone can signal virtue and make grand offers of solidarity and compassion. What matters is what they do when they step off stage, what goes on behind closed doors. I am privileged to live in New York, where the courage of survivors before me led to the opening of a lookback window through the Adult Survivors Act. And I am proud to continue to fight for survivor justice with my fearless friends Sam Maloney and Sarah Levy in TPRT, and my brilliant attorneys Dr. Ann Olivarius, Dr. Jef McAllister and Karen Barth Menzies and their determined teams. These and other individuals who forged the path before us, who persist against powerful men, public intimidation and personal fear—these are the heroes of this moment. We see you. We protect us.