Durham to hold solidarity gathering for Stanford assault survivor

Durham is set to hold a peaceful gathering in solidarity with the Stanford University victim whose attacker was sentenced to just six months in county jail out of a possible fourteen years in federal prison.

The assault took place in January 2015 when the unconscious woman was taken behind a bin at a frat party by Brock Turner. The twenty-year-old was found guilty of three sexual assault counts for the attack; he was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.

The sentence sparked outrage as the judge claimed that a longer sentence would have a ‘severe impact’ on his life, with a focus on his sporting potential. Turner’s father has since spoken out defending his son, describing the attack simply as ’20 minutes of action’.

The vigil aims to reclaim the phrase ’20 minutes of action’, acting to promote positive change, education, solidarity, support, friendship, and condemnation of rape, sexual assault, and its apologists.

The gathering will take place at the same time as the Oxford vigil on June 11th at Palace Green 8:30pm.