Iditarod mushers embroiled in domestic violence, sex assault allegations
The Iditarod Trail Committee disqualified musher Edward Allan Burke Jr. from running in this year’s Iditarod race.
According to a press release from ITC, the board met in an emergency meeting on Monday and barred Burke, quoting Rule 53.
Rule 53 stipulates that all Iditarod mushers are held to a high standard of personal and professional conduct. “Musher conduct that is recklessly injurious to the Iditarod, Iditarod competitors, sponsors or anyone associated with the race is strictly prohibited,” states the rule.
The Nugget requested a clarification from the ITC on how Burke ran afoul of that rule, but ITC CEO Rob Urbach replied, “I hope you can appreciate that our statement speaks for itself. We will not be making further comments at this time.”
The ITC said in their press release that the decision doesn’t affect Burke’s ability to apply to run in future Iditarod races.
On Friday, preceding Monday’s emergency meeting, ITC sent out a communication to this year’s mushers that stated “the ITC Board decided we must notify all of you that we have been informed of a number of accusations being made within our community concerning violence and abuse against women.” The text further says that the ITC board condemns such behavior and cannot tolerate such conduct. “Violence and abuse against women is highly unacceptable and inappropriate.” It says that the board and a Personal Conduct Committee are “monitoring the situation closely as new information arises and will not hesitate to act if the situation requires action.”
According to court records, 34year-old Burke Jr. is charged with assault in the third degree, causing injury with a weapon (including hands), a Class C felony, and assault in the fourth degree, recklessly causing injury, a Class C Misdemeanor. The charges are connected to an incident that allegedly occurred in Anchorage on May 27, 2022. Court papers describe an altercation between him and his then-girlfriend and some involvement with Burke’s sister. The charging document says that his girlfriend threw a phone at Burke but missed, that he threw it back and hit her. When the woman tried to leave, she alleges, he grabbed her bag, refused to return it and then grabbed her by the back of the neck and threw her to the ground, getting her into a chokehold to the point where she “fought for her life while being strangled” and she “thought she was going to pass out because
she could not breathe.”
Burke denied assaulting the woman.
Burke did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The case is pending, Burke has been released after posting $250 bail and the next court appearance in Anchorage, a pre-indictment hearing continued since June 2022, is scheduled for March 11, 2024.
In light of these charges, the Kuskokwim 300 sled dog race organization in Bethel asked Burke to voluntarily withdraw from the race. Several mushers withdrew prior to the race as trail conditions looked rather icy and unfavorable, so the withdrawal of Burke did not raise any eyebrows at the time. Asked for an on-the-record statement, the K300 emailed the Nugget the race organization’s reasoning for asking Burke to drop out. “In October, we learned of pending felony domestic violence charges against Eddie Burke Jr.,” wrote K300 Race Director Paul Basile in an email. “Initially, we allowed Burke’s registration to stand but we notified him verbally that we’d continue to monitor the case and if it were not resolved before the race the board might consider other action.
Burke later informed us that he didn’t expect resolution during what was at the time the next scheduled hearing (Jan 11) which meant there would be no resolution before the K300 (Jan 26). On December 21, we asked Burke to withdraw and he did,” wrote Basile in the email to the Nugget.
This is not where the trouble stops.
With Iditarod around the corner, the board also considered to boot another musher from this year’s race but failed to get the votes to do so. However, the K300 race took a different course of action.
The K300 addressed several allegations made against a musher who threatened this paper with legal action if his name is published in connection with the allegations.
The K300 felt it had sufficient cause to ask the individual to stay home. According to Basile, the K300 was informed of a number of allegations against the person, “which included a first hand account from a survivor who accused him of rape,” K300 race director Basile wrote to the Nugget. After weeks of consideration and ongoing receipt of additional allegations against the person, the K300 board decided unanimously in December to request that the musher voluntarily withdraw from the race, which he did.
Since then, Basile stated, the K300 has continued to be approached by survivors and advocates with additional first and secondhand accounts alleging acts of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by the individual.
Earlier this month, in a sworn affidavit reviewed by the Nome Nugget, a woman testified that she worked for the musher as a handler, developed a consensual sexual relationship which then turned violent. On two occasions, she said, the individual had non-consensual sex with her, slapped her and physically restrained her.
A letter dated November 2, 2023 from Planned Parenthood to the Yukon Quest race organization, also reviewed by the Nugget, states that the Rose O’Hara-Jolley, State Director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocate had over the past six years been approached by several women who confided to have been raped, sexually and physically assaulted by the same individual.
The women wanted to remain anonymous and no charges were pressed.
O’Hara-Jolley asked the Quest to permanently remove the musher from the race. The Quest did not.
K300 race director Basile said in his email that the race organization wants to stress that even in light of the credible accounts of sexual violence that have been shared with them, at no time have they made any judgement about the person’s guilt or innocence. “We reached the position we did because we feared that allowing someone to participate in our race while they are the subject of such controversy could do real harm to our event, our organization and our community and that it would send the wrong message to survivors of sexual violence in our community and beyond. The horrifying stories we heard from and about the women who allege to be victims convinced us that this controversy is real and ongoing.”
As for the Iditarod, the communication sent to mushers states that the ITC maintains the expectation that all mushers will conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of personal conduct both on and off the trail. “At this time, we would remind all of you that we retain the right, in our sole discretion, to penalize a musher who violates such standard of conduct,” the communication reads.
The Nugget reached out to the musher for a chance to comment on the allegations and received a response via Facebook Messenger. He maintained that “All the accusations are completely false and have zero bases [sic] in truth, they are made up by people that are trying to ruin my reputation and end my career.”
“As I told the ADN today I will take full action to protect myself if anyone publishes these False accusations associated with my name.
“My life has been ripped apart over the last 3 months over these false accusations and I am fully prepared to defend myself against any defamatory comments made public in anyway. [sic]
“I have to take this hard Stance to protect myself. There is absolutely zero truth in any of it and none of these accusations can be collaborated in anyway. [sic]”
To date, no criminal or civil charges have been brought against the musher, which he pointed out in his response. “These accusations were not taken to the authorities but targeted the races and all of my sponsors. Which is a direct attack on my reputation and career, Not seeking justice.
“Other then the K300 (who stated community concerns due to the high rate of sexual assault in their region) all the races and my sponsors have not given them any weight and have stated- you are innocent until proven guilty.
“I have no explanation other than jealousy. I am aware of several of the people driving this and they have been attacking me in one way or another for years.
“My recent success has just fueled it and escalated it to this unthinkable level.
I wish there was a better explanation but that’s all there is.”