Ex-Turnstile guitarist Brady Ebert has been arrested after allegedly hitting former bandmate Brendan Yates’ father with his car. Ebert was taken into custody in Montgomery County, Maryland, on March 31, and charged with one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault, court and arrest records show. Yates’ father, William Yates, is recovering from surgery after sustaining “severe physical trauma” to his legs in the alleged attack, the band said in a statement to Pitchfork.
On Sunday, March 29, Montgomery County Police found the father of the Turnstile frontman in the front yard of his Silver Spring home with “trauma to his lower extremities,” The Baltimore Banner reports. Yates alleges that Ebert had driven up to the house, honked his horn, and cursed at him before driving off. In Yates’ account, he was standing in his driveway when Ebert returned and intentionally hit him with his car.
Before first responders arrived, Ebert allegedly came back one more time to tell Yates he “deserved it.” Yates told police that Ebert had “been causing issues with his family since being fired from the band,” according to The Baltimore Banner. Ebert made his first appearance in court on April 1, records show; his bond hearing is set for this afternoon. Reached by Pitchfork, Ebert’s attorney, Andrew D. Alpert, declined to comment.
“Turnstile cut ties with Brady Ebert in 2022 in response to a consistent pattern of harmful behavior affecting himself, the band, and the community,” Brendan Yates and the band wrote in a statement shared with Pitchfork. “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.”
The statement continues: “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.” Read it in full below.
Ebert was one of the founding members of Turnstile alongside Brendan Yates, bassist Franz Lyons, and drummer Daniel Fang. He parted ways with the band in 2022, and while Yates and the other current members haven’t spoken at length about his departure publicly, The PRP reported at the time that Fang had filed a peace order against Ebert.
Last year, Ebert formed a new band called the S.E.T. (short for “the Self-Evident Truth”), but he was kicked out in February after posting inflammatory comments about Turnstile online. “Brady is no longer a member of THE S.E.T.”, the band wrote in an Instagram statement that has since been deleted. “We will not stand by his ridiculous comments and behaviour toward the members of our band and our community.”
This is a developing story.
Turnstile:
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.