Former Turnstile guitarist Brady Ebert was arrested on attempted murder charges Tuesday. In a shocking twist to an already startling story, Ebert is accused of intentionally striking 79-year-old William Yates, the father of Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates, with his car outside Yates' home. The elder Yates told authorities it was one of several altercations between himself and Ebert since the guitarist's departure from Turnstile in 2022.
Now Turnstile have shared a statement about the situation with Rolling Stone:
Turnstile cut ties with Brady Ebert in 2022 in response to a consistent pattern of harmful behavior affecting himself, the band, and the community. After exhausting every available resource to support his access to help and recovery, a boundary ultimately had to be set when healthy communication was no longer possible and he began threatening violence.
In the years since, his baseless tirades have continued in public. We never addressed it. We chose to protect his privacy and the circumstances around his departure, even when he did nothing to be deserving of that protection. Over the past few months, his threats only escalated further.
This past week, that violence led to a physical attack when Brady went to the house of Brendan’s parents and used his vehicle to run over Brendan’s father, causing severe physical trauma. We are grateful that Mr. Yates survived, has successfully undergone surgery, and we’re hoping for the best possible outcome in his recovery.
We have no language left for Brady.
Please respect our privacy in this time.
Ebert and Yates grew up together in suburban Maryland, and they formed Turnstile in Baltimore in 2010. In 2022, as the group was becoming arguably the biggest hardcore band ever, Turnstile kicked Ebert out of the band for reasons they've never explained. "We are deeply grateful for our time together,” the band wrote at the time. "Our love for him continues and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward."
Rolling Stone points out that according to Maryland judiciary records, shortly before Ebert's dismissal from the band, four people filed "peace orders," a kind of restraining order, against him. Guitar World reported that one of those people was Turnstile drummer Daniel Fang. All four of the orders were rejected due to "no statutory basis for relief" in a hearing the day before Ebert's removal from the band was announced. Ebert appeared to reference the situation in recent comments posted on Instagram. "Also, my friends filed a restraining order," he wrote. "And guess what, they had two lawyers with them. I showed up to court by myself, and the judge denied the restraining order because they were not able to meet the requirements."
This year, Ebert launched a new band called the S.E.T. but was swiftly removed from the new group after making inflammatory comments about Turnstile online, including allegations of mishandling funds collected at a benefit concert. Ebert is currently in custody in Montgomery County and charged with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault. His bail/bond hearing is this afternoon.
