Woman Sexually Assaulted at Jason Aldean Concert in Oregon
A woman was sexually assaulted at the Jason Aldean concert in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday, April 25th, and police are asking for the public’s help in finding or identifying the assailant. The incident happened around 9 p.m. at the Matthew Knight Arena on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene. It occurred on the main concourse level in a women’s restroom near the east doors of the arena according to UO police. The assault was first reported to Eugene police who later handed over the investigation to the university police department. The victim is not a student of the university.
The assailant is described as a tall while male with brown hair and blue eyes who was wearing a red flannel shirt at the time. Anyone with information about the assault is asked to call University of Oregon police at (541) 346-2919.
“At a large public event like this there’s lots of security, but it’s spread across that entire arena and the multiple levels of that arena, and that one of the things that criminals do,” said university police public information officer Kelly McIver to KMTR. “Perpetrators will look for opportunities.”
After many stories of arrests, assaults, rapes, hospitalizations, and even deaths dominated headlines during country music’s summer touring season in 2014, including a death at Jason Aldean’s Cleveland concert in July, concerns about the conduct at mainstream country concerts has been a matter of great discussion.
April 29, 2015 @ 5:57 pm
What a surprise that a Jason Aldean fan doesn’t know how to respect women.
April 29, 2015 @ 6:09 pm
How sad that a woman can’t even go to the restroom anymore without worrying about being assaulted. I’m sure these pigs go to these shows with that specific intention because they know that drinking girls are easier prey.
April 29, 2015 @ 6:17 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdImDqbgc2g
April 29, 2015 @ 6:45 pm
like coming here to read thoughts on actual music. Not so much when it turns into country music tmz. this Dj is doing this, this person said this about bro country, this guy is backing out of this benefit, blah, blah blah.
April 29, 2015 @ 7:21 pm
That’s the way i’ve been feeling recently. I hate coming on here daily to see that only 1, maybe 2, of the new articles have to do with music and the other 3 or 4 are just gossip pieces.
April 29, 2015 @ 8:39 pm
I don’t consider this a gossip piece whatsoever. I consider this a news story, and as JC pointed out, there is a specific call by authorities to get the word out in this case. Nor do I feel like the stories about Tim McGraw’s Sandy Hook benefit gossip stories either. Gossip is talking about people’s personal lives, who they’re dating, who cheated on who, who is mad at who. The only thing that I think even comes close to gossip on the front page right now might be the story of Nelly making a country record. As for the piece on Bobby Bones, it’s not gossip, but it certainly is completely and utterly stupid, so I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to read it. It was satire to try to keep things light around here and not always be so serious. But it was total fluff.
As for these news stories about violence and arrests and concerts—because trust me, as the summer concert season gets up and running, there’s going to be more of them—my litmus test is if local media deems it’s newsworthy to report on, then I’m going to report it as well. SCM has taken the point in highlighting the increase in problems at mainstream country concerts, and I’d like to think my reporting made a difference last summer in raising the awareness of what was happening. I had other reporters from The Boston Globe and other outlets contact me to ask me questions about the incidents, and so I feel it is important to keep myself and the country music listening public informed.
Having said all of that, I totally agree the central focus should always be the music, and everything else should fall into place behind that. However in times of elevated news activity (as the last couple of weeks have been), sometimes the ratios get out-of-whack. Trust me when I say that I’m the first to recognize this, and will do what I can to get back to the music as best as I can.
April 30, 2015 @ 1:38 pm
I don’t like the way that you often write about stuff that isn’t 100% within my personal interests. You know? It just seems like your site could be a little more ME oriented, and not so much aimed at what other people like.
I mean if someone else likes the same stuff as me, then it’s okay to write about what they like, but otherwise – please just stick to my interests. Thanks.
April 29, 2015 @ 7:55 pm
This isn’t a gossip piece, several music sites have given this information on the chance that a reader was at the show, remembers/knows this woman’s attacker and will come forward with information so he can be arrested.
April 29, 2015 @ 8:30 pm
Fair enough jc, will post the same thing tomorrow on a true gossip piece. I think j was just agreeing there are quite a few, and to be honest a lot of times I just read the click bait headline and move on.
April 29, 2015 @ 10:48 pm
This is good news http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-stagecoach-country-music-alcohol-sobriety-musicares-20150426-story.html
The problem is it’s not for the fans where it’s really needed.
April 30, 2015 @ 7:35 pm
I really liked that this year, it was a nice addition, obviously it doesn’t stop everyone from drinking to much, but it helps the people that want to stop or slow down their drinking.
April 30, 2015 @ 12:48 am
What is the point of reporting this, and the arrests at Stagecoach and death at a Jason Aldean concert… dont get me wrong, all of that is sad, but I’m sure at a 1980 David Allan Coe concert there was just as much activity… Seems painfully transparent that you are trying to paint the current state of the genre as something that is bad for humanity : when you know good and well if your favorite bands (Hank 3, Hellbound Glory/LVB, etc : pretty much anybody at Muddy Roots) had any kind of substantial audience, god knows something as big as any one of these events, there would be three times the nefarious activity. I have to be honest TriggerMan, you don’t really impress me much as a journalist. Can you say ‘lob’ or ‘svengali’ one more time?
April 30, 2015 @ 5:53 am
I respectfully disagree with you. I think alot of what happens at these concerts is glossed over or ignored completely by mainstream media. If just one of these stories (that Trigger fully researches, and gets details that many others dont have) sticks in the mind of a female reader when she is at one of these shows, it may make her think twice about straying from her group and possibly getting attacked. Until I started seeing it on here, I had no idea that so many women were being attacked at shows. Like it or not, it does seem to be happening at these country shows the most, because too many of the fans are worried more about how drunk they can get, not the actual music. You just don’t hear about rapes at a Bruno Mars or Katy Perry show, so it is newsworthy why it seems to be happening mostly at country events.
April 30, 2015 @ 9:45 am
Elizabeth,
As I explained in another comment above, Saving Country Music has taken the point in reporting these crime stories in country media to continue the narrative about the increasing concern for the behavior at mainstream country concerts. I’m speaking openly and honestly about that. I’m not trying to hide anything. There is an agenda, and that’s what it is. I’m not gratuitously embellishing details, I’m simply reporting the stories and the trends. My reporting is nothing different than what local media in these areas is reporting.
As for this idea that I’m reporting this stuff about mainstream concerts, but I would never turn the poison pen against my favorite bands (and your assessment of my “favorites” appears to be about four or five years old, but whatever), that is patently untrue. I caught a lot of flack, and you can read it in the comments section, when I reported on a stabbing at Moonrunners Fest where a lot of my “favorite” acts were playing, and I faced similar criticisms when I reported on the deaths at SXSW in 2014. Both of those are instances where I am reporting about independent events involving independent artists, and that did not stop me from publishing the news (see links below).
This is not gossip. This is not click bait. When people’s lives are being significantly affected by acts of violence or other criminal activity, then I think it is imperative for the media respond and help spread the word about these incidents, especially when it is being asked for by local authorities and the victims.
Here’s the links:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/security-guard-stabbed-at-moonrunners-festival-in-chicago
https://savingcountrymusic.com/police-security-guard-was-predominant-agressor-in-moonrunners-stabbing
https://savingcountrymusic.com/2-dead-23-injured-as-car-plows-through-sxsw-crowd
April 30, 2015 @ 3:07 pm
The difference is, this isn’t 1980 so what might have happened then is irrelevant. If something like this happens at a David Allan Coe concert next week it will be worth reporting.
April 30, 2015 @ 5:05 am
Attention All you people saying this isn’t newsworthy or this is gossip or Trig’s just bashing Aldean: I bet you’re all men; you people are almost as bad as the beast who did this because you people are too concerned with your dopey notions about journalism to outcry this crime against a person’s wellbeing. Why don’t y’all get together and go take this woman’s right to vote back instead of coming here saying this isn’t newsworthy and it would happen at a HankIII show, it’s obvious none of you can feel compassion.
April 30, 2015 @ 6:08 am
Can people with bad taste in music still vote? I thought that was the reason for poor election turnout recently.
April 30, 2015 @ 7:54 am
While people shouldn’t be whining about this being posted on the site, you are dead wrong about something–nobody who isn’t a rapist can be justifiably called “almost as bad” as a rapist. do not compare unpopular opinions to rape again. You’re inherently shrinking just how awful rape is with that comparison.
Rape is one of the most awful crimes an individual can commit, perhaps only behind murder and pedophilia as far as awfulness is concerned, and even then–how can we try to decide what’s worst between such awful things?
Think before you start typing.
May 1, 2015 @ 1:30 pm
I am a woman, and a feminist at that, and I don’t see this as particularly valuable contribution to this site. The reality is that women are assaulted by men (and at lower rates, men by women, etc.) in all kinds of situations and in all demographics. It is a systemic issue in our society and needs thoughtful discussion. But I don’t think this is it. Do most people here, even you, Trigger, think about the issue of sexual assault and try to raise the issue in other contexts? I have seen plenty of sexism and lack of awareness in the comments here, and negative feedback when concerns are raised. (To be fair, I have seen Trigger making an effort to be more aware over the years.) This seems more like a gleeful knock at the bros than genuine concern. Does bro country foster negative attitudes to women? Absolutely. But there is plenty of that going on in older outlaw music and in some corners of the purist country world (for lack of a better term), and those folks are defended, not criticized.
In any case, I come here for the music criticism, and usually don’t click on these articles that seem a bit sensational. This one grabbed me because I do care about the issue.
May 1, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
I think I’ve been very dedicated and expressive about the root issues of sexual assault in culture, and how music may or may not play into that, and specifically how these issues affect the culture around country music. Even when I was making fun of Luke Bryan for having a vagina (which in the end, was nothing more than satire, but whatever). There’s cause, and then there’s effect, and one way to raise the narrative is by reporting on these types of stories if for not other reason than to compile an archive of these incidents so we can use them judge whether country music has a violence issue or not.
But let me make something clear here. If someone is raped at the Jason Aldean concert this weekend and the local news reports on it, I’m going to report on it too, and no level of bellyaching is going to deter me. I will try to make sure I do not detract from music coverage by doing so, but I’m not going to be ignoring these stories, no matter how unpopular they are.
And lastly, I just want to say that the time commitment to post a story like this compared to the time commitment to, let’s say, my Zac Brown review, is 10 to 1. That’s why it’s inaccurate when people surmise I didn’t post about music to post a story like this.
There’s no website in the world that anyone goes to and finds 100% engagement with everything posted. I’m flattered that there’s so many who do want to read everything I post. But it’s totally okay to pass on something if it doesn’t fit your interests.
May 2, 2015 @ 6:32 am
I appreciate when you do bring up the issues, Trigger, but am not sure I have ever seen that criticism directed inside the scene, at least not as a featured article. Let’s agree to disagree on whether the “vagina” satire is an indirect devaluing of women, but I am glad you stopped. I have seen plenty of comments, though, which defend DAC or are otherwise dismissive of concerns about race and gender. That is not entirely in your control, but it is a reflection of the culture of the site and a certain segment of the country purist scene.
And, by the way, dismissing people merely “bellyaching” is unfair. Disagree and write what you want, it is your site after all, but please take my comments, and probably many of the others, as coming from someone who finds the site valuable and is trying to offer more than mere griping. It certainly is not coming from a place of disrespect.
April 30, 2015 @ 6:15 am
All joking aside, sexual violence is a huge problem and I appreciate everyone with the platform to keep the focus on it continuing to do so. Thanks Triggerman.
April 30, 2015 @ 12:09 pm
“The assailant is described as a tall while male with brown hair and blue eyes who was wearing a red flannel shirt at the time”
This has to describe every single male in attendance.
April 30, 2015 @ 7:41 pm
Come on, some of the guys were probably blonde.
April 30, 2015 @ 1:14 pm
Was it Jason?
April 30, 2015 @ 7:37 pm
No he was too busy sonically assaulting country music and ears.
April 30, 2015 @ 4:00 pm
Throw him in jail so he can get the same treatment.
Guy’s that rape girls just ani’t man enough to get one on their own.
April 30, 2015 @ 4:18 pm
When you’re actively encouraging alcoholic pick-up (not the truck) culture you’re going to attract a lot of beer-drenched animals to your gigs. I know plenty of people who go to these “bro-country” shows and seriously, at least half of them are attending the show for the expressed purpose of getting drunk and “chasing tail”. Sorry but this particular sub-genre is all about binge drinking and anti-social behavior disguised as “letting loose” or whatever you prefer to call it. Not to mention the non-stop objectification of women, another key component of bro-country-pop.
May 1, 2015 @ 11:56 am
This stuff is important. These concerts are getting way out of hand. I have been to over 50 live show from major to minor country music artist. I will say that the crowd at a Hank Jr concert was the scariest I have been too. Eric Church is another that was pretty bad. Young drunk girls without any respectable people around them. A lot of bad things can happen. I would think Jason Aldean’s crowd would be similar to Eric Church. I am telling you I have never seen so many drunk young girls looking for trouble. It is scary. I appreciate Trigg taking to time to inform us on these issues.
May 1, 2015 @ 5:00 pm
Look, the important thing here is that we “raise awareness”.