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    KatMarloweAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:28pm

    Leslie Rasmussen, Part 2:

    Summary: Same shit as before, now minus cutesy pics but featuring more defensiveness.

    A statement from Leslie regarding the letter she wrote about Brock Turner:

    Dear everyone,

    Two months ago, I was asked to write a character statement for use in the sentencing phase of Brock Turner’s trial. Per the request of the court, I was asked to write this statement in an effort to shed light on Brock’s character as I knew it to be during my childhood, adolescence and young adulthood when I interacted with him as a classmate and friend. I felt confident in my ability to share my straightforward opinion of him and how I knew him. I also felt compelled to share my deep concern over the misuse of alcohol that was a well-established contributor in this case. Beyond sharing my personal experience with Brock, I made an appeal to the judge to consider the effect that alcohol played in this tragedy.

    I understand that this appeal has now provided an opportunity for people to misconstrue my ideas into a distortion that suggests I sympathize with sex offenses and those who commit them or that I blame the victim involved. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and I apologize for anything my statement has done to suggest that I don’t feel enormous sympathy for the victim and her suffering.

    Perhaps I should have included in my statement the following ideas that explain my perspective on the complexities of what may have happened. As a young female musician who has spent years (since I was in fourth grade) performing as a drummer in live music venues, clubs, and bars with my two sisters, I have had the unique opportunity to observe over 10 years of public American drinking culture and the problems that invariably arise through alcohol misuse. I have watched friends, acquaintances and complete strangers transform before my eyes over the course of sometimes very short periods of time, into people I could barely recognize as a result of alcohol overconsumption. I am currently 20 years old. I have made these observations through sober eyes. I have been repeatedly reminded by my family and coached by police to hold my personal sobriety closely and seriously because of the industry I work in and the risks to my own life that I could face as a young woman playing regularly in venues across the country where alcohol is served.

    Additionally, I have grown up and currently reside in a university town that is affected every year by the tragic consequences resulting from undergraduate students’ excessive enthusiasm for binge drinking. Student arrests, violence, injuries, and sexual assaults occur with some regularity, and I have often wondered why this culture continues to thrive seemingly unquestioned and unchecked.

    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. 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. Now, my choices to defer college to write and play music, to finally introduce 10 years of hard work to a national audience while working consistently and intentionally on my own personal and professional integrity, has led to an uproar of judgement and hatred unleashed on me, my band and my family.

    I know that Brock Turner was tried and rightfully convicted of sexual assault. I realize that this crime caused enormous pain for the victim. I don’t condone, support, or sympathize with the offense or the offender. I was asked by a court in California to provide a character statement as a standard and necessary part of the sentencing process. I believe that Brock’s character was seriously affected by the alcohol he consumed, and I felt that the court needed to consider this issue during their sentencing deliberations.

    Sincerely,
    Leslie Rasmussen

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      BlessedAreTheHedas. Our fight is not over.KatMarlowe
      6/07/16 7:32pm

      She really should just stop.

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      burninhelenKatMarlowe
      6/07/16 7:40pm

      Dear Leslie Rasmussen,

      Eat a bag of dicks, you shitbag rape apologist.

      Sincerely,

      Everybody

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    I'm Fart and I'm SmunnyAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:11pm

    Seriously, these guys are amazing. Unfortunately because of some psychological reasoning or whatever, people aren’t inclined to help others. But these guys did and they truly are heroes for it.

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      cinnamonI'm Fart and I'm Smunny
      6/07/16 7:26pm

      Unfortunately because of some psychological reasoning or whatever, people aren’t inclined to help others.

      Is it true globally? Do the values of the society in which people grew up in have some impact on the inclination to help others? America is a very individualistic society so I’m wondering if it’s the same in societies that value collectivism.

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      FeralFrigidSlutI'm Fart and I'm Smunny
      6/07/16 7:32pm

      In the dark. As they rode by. They see the activity behind the dumpster. Something seems wrong about it to them. They turn back to investigate. They intervene. They call for help. They hold the perpetrator until the authorities arrive. They provide eyewitness testimony. They don’t seek the limelight, in fact they shun it. They promote her words rather than speak over her.

      If I could, I would give them medals.

      They are the very definition of heroes.

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    StartedatthebottomnowweslightlyaboveaverageAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:07pm

    Forget Oyster Champ. These two are bae.

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      JessaminaStartedatthebottomnowweslightlyaboveaverage
      6/07/16 7:11pm

      They are absolutely heros but how sad is it that we live in a world where two men who stop another man from raping an unconscious woman is considered heroic, rather than just normal, expected every day behaviour?

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      CarrieAsInCarrieJessamina
      6/07/16 7:14pm

      Normal expected everyday behavior would be not raping/being raped.

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    oliveyouAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:13pm

    I feel so strongly for these men. In her letter she writes that one of them was so overcome with tears that he could hardly speak after he found her. It’s clear that they experienced a lot of heartache during this process themselves.

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      fightinginfishnetsoliveyou
      6/07/16 7:38pm

      I have a friend who stopped a sexual assault, and he says it’s a difficult thing to for him to deal with (though far less difficult than for the actual victim, of course). While he knows he did the right thing and did the best he could, he just wishes so badly that he could have entered the room just a few minutes before and stopped it from happening completely. I’d be surprised if these men didn’t feel similarly.

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      Hoyo Afrikafightinginfishnets
      6/07/16 7:46pm

      Violence against women scars men too but men are expected to bottle it up and often times it eats away at them.

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    Johanna DarklightAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:09pm

    How much more evidence of his guilt do we need before his supporters accept the obvious?

    Does Jesus Christ have to descend from the heavens, kick the guy in the balls, and scream, “You raped her, fucktard!” before they’ll believe it?

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      Kris-the-Needlessly-DefiantJohanna Darklight
      6/07/16 7:17pm

      I think his supporters cop to the fact that he raped her, they just maintain that it’s not his fault for some inexplicable reason.

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      benjaminalloverJohanna Darklight
      6/07/16 7:20pm

      I don’t think anyone believes it didn’t happen, some just hold rather vile opinions on the importance of the assault relative to things like his swim times, appetite, or “respectable” family.

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    JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:16pm

    See, fellow dudes? Women DO acknowledge a nice guy when he’s a GENUINELY A GOOD GUY!

    You don’t get a cookie because you fudge the minimum decent behavior towards 50% of the human race.

    Step it up fellow dudes. Myself included.

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      Hoyo AfrikaJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      6/07/16 7:46pm

      There are so many women out there who praise men but men can't seem to repay the favour. #whenwillmengrowup

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      iamnotanalogJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      6/07/16 9:59pm

      Yeah, being a good guy is stepping up and stopping a rape, not “I totally could have raped her, but I didn’t.”

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    Kris-the-Needlessly-DefiantAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:12pm

    The mothers of these two men must be so proud of them.

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      JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereKris-the-Needlessly-Defiant
      6/07/16 7:20pm

      The final scene of Homer looking up at the stars after she goes always gets me.

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      Vox PopulistKris-the-Needlessly-Defiant
      6/07/16 7:31pm

      Makes you wonder what went right in their life that went wrong in Brock Turner’s.

      Knowing a bit of Scandinavian “drinking culture” and “promiscuity”, I’m certain that had nothing at all to do with these alleged root causes that both Mr Turner and his father used to excuse his crime.

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    randilynisFINDILYNAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:21pm

    They are heroes in the truest sense. They saw something and did something and proved that every action has the potential to change lives.

    Her writing is poetic and poignant and hopeful and inspiring. She is grace and magic and fury and a singular voice speaking the words of so many women who might be wordless. I hope that writing is in her future plans.

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      grapesIickrandilynisFINDILYN
      6/07/16 7:40pm

      She’s incredibly eloquent. I felt almost bad for being so blown away by her words, as, well, the words shouldn’t be the point. A less eloquent person would still have been just as raped. Still, her statement shows the power words can have.

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      randilynisFINDILYNrandilynisFINDILYN
      6/07/16 7:50pm

      You’ve made a very important point. There are a lot of superlatives in this case that do somewhat distract from it’s commonness.

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    Ruffian9Aimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:30pm

    These are good men

    Peter Jonsson













    Carl-Fredrik Arndt

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      DdhdRuffian9
      6/07/16 7:44pm

      May they live long, healthy, happy, prosperous lives. They truly deserve it.

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      ValiexiRuffian9
      6/07/16 7:47pm

      Aww man, and they had to go and look all dreamy too!

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    misandroneAimée Lutkin
    6/07/16 7:07pm

    These beautiful, brave men. words can’t express. I can’t stop thinking about where she wouldve ended up had they not stopped. I will make sure we laud these 2 as heros to my little son and daughter when they are old enough to hear the account. I love these men. thank you, swedes on bicycles.

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      Chalupa Batwomanmisandrone
      6/07/16 7:22pm

      I feel that it's no accident that a country that takes care of its citizens has citizens that in turn take care of others. In any case these guys are the best and I hope if I have boys I raise them with the same inclination to look out for others.

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      wearecorgChalupa Batwoman
      6/07/16 7:33pm

      This is exactly my thinking as well. I was not at all surprised to see that these two men come from Sweden. There are selfish, conservative assholes there, but on the whole that is a nation that values society and community.

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