Leslie Rasmussen

[enviousdominous]

Fair warning, this thread is in reference to the recent occurrence where Stanford University freshman Brock Turner had raped a young woman. I don't use the term "allegedly" there because he was tried and convicted. His sentence of six months with a year of probation (and a lifetime on the sex offender registry) was very light in my not-so humble opinion.

I want this thread to focus on an old friend of Brock Turner's; Leslie Rasmussen. For those who don't want to Google her name; Leslie was asked to provide a character statement in defense of Brock Turner to potentially earn him a lighter sentence.

Here's what she wrote in defense of Brock Turner:

Spoiler

Now, while I note that Leslie is only 20 years old, she trivialized the rape of another young woman by suggesting that it doesn't count as rape if you made a good impression on her and if you were a part of this evil scheme by universities to look like party zones. That was wrong of her, and her (now closed) account on Facebook was quickly bogged down with every type of hateful comment one can imagine.

She then posted a condescending statement to try to excuse herself from the backlash, which went as well as I'm sure that any of you can predict. Then she released a third statement, saying:

"Although I was asked to share how I knew him, how long I have known him, his character and personality, time spent with him, activities together, and any other opinion I had on the matter, I was not there that night. I had no right to make any assumptions about the situation. Most importantly, I did not acknowledge strongly enough the severity of Brock's crime and the suffering and pain that his victim endured, and for that lack of acknowledgment, I am deeply sorry. I fully understand the outrage over Brock's sentencing and my statement. I can only say that I am committed to learning from this mistake. I am 20 years old, and it has never been more clear to me that I still have much to learn."

To me, that is a very satisfying end to this whole saga surrounding her. She understands that she was ignorant, and will likely do a little more research into a matter before submitting a statement that will never go away.

This all brings me to the point of this thread, the backlash against Leslie is picking up steam. It'll die out when the social justice warriors of the internet find a new pariah to annihilate, but for now she's someone they can directly influence while Brock is safely behind bars.

Leslie is in a band called "Good English" with her two sisters, and they're currently the most popular band to hate. Most commentary suggests that their music is terrible -- which is a fair opinion these days -- though one has to wonder if the flood of hatred for their band might have something to do with the high that some people get when they feel justified for being sadistic.

I'm reminded of Matthew 7:2, which says: For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

In my opinion; Brock should have received a more harsh sentence for his crime, but Leslie is as entitled to her ignorance as I am to mine. I can hate someone for being a rapist, I can't hate someone for being ignorant until coming around and admitting that ignorance. A large chunk of the internet on the other hand won't be satisfied until they see Good English covered in pig's blood before being executed by a firing squad.

 

[Navi]

The only question I have is this. Why would any judge in their right mind take seriously a statement from a 20 year old girl, and give a convicted rapist a lighter sentence if that's what in fact happened here?

I'm not familiar with the story myself, but something tells me the judge should be taken to task for handing down such a lenient sentence. Whether the girl is ignorant is not the point here, for me the justice system failed the victim and the public at large be not putting a rapist behind bars for a longer time, and making him pay for his crime.

 

[enviousdominous]

The only question I have is this. Why would any judge in their right mind take seriously a statement from a 20 year old girl, and give a convicted rapist a lighter sentence if that's what in fact happened here?

I'm not familiar with the story myself, but something tells me the judge should be taken to task for handing down such a lenient sentence. Whether the girl is ignorant is not the point here, for me the justice system failed the victim and the public at large be not putting a rapist behind bars for a longer time, and making him pay for his crime.

It's my understanding that her character statement was one of 39 other character statements that were submitted, I think that her statement resonates so strongly because she's a woman and because in her statement she downplays what happened in the same manner that one might expect of an actual rapist

I see the case itself as a miscarriage of justice, in that the judge changed the recommended sentence on a whim on the basis that he apparently had more sympathy for the rapist than he did for the victim.

I don't know how much influence Leslie had on that verdict, but the way that the internet is crucifying her has me a little disturbed. She did a bad thing by mocking the pain of the victim, and after a lot of backlash she came back and gave a thoughtful apology.

The internet at large seems very reluctant to forgive someone when they have them essentially dead to rights on a social level, because the feeling of justifiably ripping into someone is fun.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It was hard to believe that the writer of this statement was female as any woman that I've ever personally known would've wanted to string this guy up by his balls before dousing him in gasoline and setting him on fire.

This Brock Turner kid is one of the latest high profile instances of rape on campus and, comparatively speaking, the guy got off light compared to most other guys who'd have been in his situation. Ultimately, the judge took all these people pouring their heart out for him into heavy consideration though that most definitely wasn't all he took. This kid was a star athlete, a three time All American swimmer attending an Ivy League university who also happened to be white with blonde hair, blue eyes and had the overall appearance of the All American boy next door. Basically, this was a kid who had everything in life going for him, grew up in what most would consider an ideal environment and ultimately had what most people felt had a lot of "promise" in life. What that boils down to is that he had every possible advantage in life and managed to get enough people wringing their hands for him to convince the judge that a lesser sentence was warranted.

As for Leslie Rasmussen herself, it's little wonder that her statement garnered harsh criticism as she basically tries to excuse Turner's behavior while laying all the blame on booze and the university itself. While I do agree that many schools to need to do more, it's ultimately not up to the them to police the lives of the students as they're not babysitters and can't watch what all of them might be doing at any given time 24/7. Again, if this was a situation where this wasn't an affluent white teenager, I think the judge would've thrown the book at him and it's just another example of the system not applying justice equally.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Did this girl go to Rapeview East High School?

The most jarring thing about this letter is the comment about knowing five people in her graduating high school class that wouldn't surprise her to be in this situation. Who are these people? Rapey Dave from third period? Glee club member Chronic Erection Eric?

But I can sympathize with this woman a little. I don't know why someone rapes or becomes a rapist. It is completely foreign to me so I might react like this. Especially when it is someone I know who has never shown any sign of being the slightest inkling of being a sexual predator. And I have a funtioning penis, this is coming from a woman. Its not like she has ever known what it is like to have an erection and the pleasure of rubbing it on something (correction: anything). It doesn't surprise me or make me angry that she thinks her friend is mostly innocent in all this.

But she was ultimately wrong with many of the things she wrote and now that this is out everyone wants to be the best human being in the world by pointing out how horrible she is. Not that most people really care that much, we really just want to feel better about ourselves as quickly as possible and shitting on someone on the internet is good for that.

But in the end this may be good for her music career. She now has name recognition. The backlash to the backlashers could be hugely profitable aka the Fox News model. Win the support of the smallest minority who is tired of the vocal small minority while the rest of us are too busy working, studying, and raising families. This could be an incredible work if it were a work.

Although the band Bad English is likely to sue her band so they better change that fast.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

She just didnt knew him in that light. It's hard to know somebody and think that he is a good person but it turns out its not like that. Especially if that person was model citizen until the moment he does something monumentaly bad like rape or kill somebody. My friend was killed by her boyfriend. Everybody thought that he was great because he was peacefull and didnt even drink alcohol. Up until the moment when he went and killed her and her sister with cold blood. So its understandable that she refuses to believe that person she knew can do such horrible things. It's not understandable to defend such person. Its his fault that he tried to took advantage of pass out girl. He should off know better and he should and did pay for his mistake.

 

[HBK-aholic]

That letter makes me nauseous. I don't know if anyone read the letter his father wrote, but he literally mentioned that Brock doesn't eat steak now so should get a lesser sentence. And my God, if I hear about how this cunt was going to be an olympic swimmer one more time. Because apparently that's relevant in a case where he was found guilty of THREE counts of sexual assault - he was literally caught red handed by 2 passers by. There is no doubt of guilt.

If you read the victim statement, it's heartbreaking. That's what we should be focusing on here. How a person had their life changed so drastically because of what he did. And for that, he received a 6 MONTH sentence. Think about that. You get more for shoplifting, for stealing money from a multi-million dollar company, for not paying taxes. There needs to be a review panel on sentencing like this because it should NOT be allowed to happen.

This man was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of THREE counts of sexual assault. And yet, all we hear is victim blaming, and how he shouldn't have his life ruined for "20 minutes of action" - that is a direct quote from his father's letter to the judge, by the way. He CHOSE to spend 20 minutes of his life assaulting someone sexually, but his life shouldn't be ruined. The girl who was his victim? Her life doesn't matter in this. Not when the culprit is a young, talented, rich white male. Rape culture in this country is shocking and everytime a person gets a sentence so low for this because the victim was drinking, or whatever other bullshit excuse attackers come up with to blame their victims, it sends a message that they aren't to blame, that it's ok to rape if...

And that leads us back to Leslie Rasmussen. At first thought it boggles your mind that a young, seemingly intelligent woman can make a statement like this. But when you look at how rape victims are treated in this society, both indirectly with the aforementioned blame, and directly when it comes to the sentencing of sexual predators, it makes more sense.

 

[enviousdominous]

If you read the victim statement, it's heartbreaking. That's what we should be focusing on here. How a person had their life changed so drastically because of what he did. And for that, he received a 6 MONTH sentence.

I feel that I should post a link to the victim's letter to Brock Turner, mostly because it is one of the greatest examinations of an incident of rape that I've ever read:

Here Is The Powerful Letter The Stanford Victim Read Aloud To Her Attacker

She just didnt knew him in that light. It's hard to know somebody and think that he is a good person but it turns out its not like that.

First off, my deepest condolences in regard to your friend's passing.

I think what made the letter that much more infuriating for those who've read it is that Leslie makes her case for Brock in a way that implies absolute certainty. As though she has taken the time to review the case and is willing to go so far as to say that she thinks that no rape occurred.

Her logic was obviously fallacious, but I have a little bit of sympathy for her in that she can easily fix her perspective going forward after apologizing. While it's a bit off-putting that she probably would have never apologized if it weren't for the backlash, she probably knew that the attacks would mostly continue even if she humbled herself and apologized.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

After reading all I have about this case I have no sympathy for Leslie Rasmussen or anyone else who tried to defend this guy. Yesterday I ended up reading the letter of the person who was assaulted and when it comes to having sympathy she is the only one that deserves it yet she's the one who's getting attacked more than anyone.

I don't know Brock Turner, never met the guy, for all I know he may have been the nicest guy on the planet in high school but it really doesn't matter who he was before that night, it's completely irrelevant in my eyes, all that matters is what happened the night of the assault and quite frankly there are so many holes in his defense. You fingered a blacked out student behind a dumpster and ran like hell when you were caught! How in the fuck can you justify that action in any way? Whatever was said, happened before she blacked out shouldn't even be looked at in my eyes, especially since she was out cold when this took place, any 15 year old with half a brain could tell you that's sexual assault.

I know Leslie and Brock's dad remember the guy as this sweet, great kid who was going to the Olympics but that night he was anything but, he's an adult and he deserves to get punished (which isn't nearly as bad as the punishment should've been) but between his lawyer, friends and parents he's probably going to go through life believing he's the victim and he doesn't deserve this. Well Brock, your friend is wrong, your dad is wrong, you were wrong and I really hope you truly understand what you did.

Back to Leslie she was asked to give a character witness of Brock and she did so, it's obvious a lot of that was incredibly ignorant but it also sounds like she may actually get what she did was ignorant. Do I think people go too far with this when it comes to hateful comments? Most definitely but at the same time when it comes to light you're in fact defending a rapist it's understandable it's going to light a fire under many peoples asses and they will get the itch to say something about it. I'm sure some of those comments went too far but I certainly don't feel bad for her in any way, she brought this on herself.

 

[Navi]

I think everyone here has made valid points regarding this issue. This Leslie person while she never should have written that letter in the first place, didn't knew the accused than he actually was. In other words she saw him while he was wearing a mask, one that slipped he night he raped another girl. I could never write something like that in her situation. You never really know someone do you and you don't know what they are really capable of.

I used to work with a guy who was the nicest guy in the world. He used to walk us women to our cars after dark to make sure we got there and nothing happened to us. Very helpful and sincere. He moved away from Toronto and it was years later I heard from another friend that he had been arrested as being a serial killer.

They knew for a fact he raped and killed at least 5 women, and is a suspect is many more. I don't know what his profile was and what lead him to kill but I guess I and my co workers didn't fit it. But even knowing him as I did and then finding out what he had done, I could never have written any kind of letter for him, even if asked. This Leslie person should have done the same and just kept quiet.

The judge should also have looked long and hard at this rapist and while character references are important, he raped a woman, he's not a nice person. Who cares that he's from a good family, may have money, he committed a crime that if a guy from a poor household or God forbid another race would have had the book thrown at him. Like I said this is a case where justice fails the public and judges really have to take more responsibility for their decisions.

As for the internet rage, well we are seeing this more and more aren't we. Remember the lion that was killed by that dentist? He got death threats sent to his office when the address was published. The woman who son went into the gorilla cage and the gorilla had to be shot last week, both enraged the public to the point of almost ridiculousness. We get news immediately online and most will react to it as we get it immediately. I'm not saying that people shouldn't sound off on what they see and hear, but most do go just a little overboard. Why because they are posting as they are reacting and not giving themselves time to look at all the facts and calm down. It will always be like this from now on, I'm used to it.