[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]In this column, we present our monthly roundup of political prisoner, prison rebel, and repression news, happenings, announcements, action and analysis. Packed in as always are updates, fundraisers, and birthdays.
There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!
Black August, Week of Solidarity, and Running Down the Walls
Many years ago, while imprisoned at SCI-Smithfield, and struggling to keep our study groups afloat, I received an e-mesage from Casey Goonan. I had no clue whom he was. He said he reached out because he heard about the work I was doing inside and wanted to offer any assistance he could. He did, and he continued to do so. Casey has been one of the most consistent and ready allies/accomplices of imprisoned people. Whether producing zines that center imprisoned voices, mailing zines to imprisoned people at no cost, coordinating phone zaps to combat repression by prison officials, raising funds for mutual aid, building social media presence for imprisoned folx or just lending an attentive ear to the concerns of imprisoned people, Casey has been unstinting in his support of anyone, anywhere, who is being oppressed.
My friend, my comrade, my brother, is currently being held in a county jail in CA. I wish I were out there to do more for him, to manifest by love and solidarity for him. What I want everyone to know is that Casey Goonan is an amazing ally/accomplice of oppressed people everyone. In this, his time of need, he should be supported and cared for. I ask people to keep close tabs on the situation, show up for Casey and make sure that while he is inside, jail officials do not harm him or exacerbate his condition. I don’t ever claim to speak for all imprisoned people, but I feel confident in saying that thousands of imprisoned people across this land have benefited from Casey’s efforts. We ask you support our comrade and care for him.
Join us on Monday July 29th, 6:30pm at Wooden Shoe Books as we send letters to comrades incarcerated for their support of the movement to Stop Cop City. In 2017, the Atlanta Police Foundation proposed the destruction hundreds of acres of Weelaunee forest to build a massive compound that would train cops from around the world in militarized tactics, urban warfare, and putting down social movements. The full Cop City proposal came in 2020 after national uprisings around the police murder of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks.
In 2021, forest defenders and community members established a long-term encampment in the Weelaunee forest. Shortly thereafter, a multi-agency task force began arresting and charging them with domestic terrorism. January 18th, 2023 brought more raids, arrests, and the murder of Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán. This was the first police killing of an environmental activist during a protest in modern U.S. history. Autopsy results indicated that the police shot Tortuguita 57 times while their hands were up. On April 19th, the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s office ruled Tortuguita’s death a homicide. On October 6th, a Georgia prosecutor announced that there would be no charges for any of the troopers involved in the murder.
Even before its completion, Atlanta Cop City’s militarized approach to social movements has already become a model for how to train police across the U.S.; between the George Floyd Uprisings and today, planning or construction has begun on 66 new Cop Cities around the United States. Similarly, the unprecedently fierce legal and extralegal measures taken against those resisting Cop City in Atlanta—domestic terrorism charges for civil disobedience, RICO charges for bail fund organizers, generalized harassment, and murder—can be understood as a localized experiment for broader application. These tactics of repression are being auditioned in Atlanta; if successful, you can bet they’ll be generalized across the U.S. For these reasons, it’s incumbent on all of us support those on the front lines of stopping Cop City, and especially those who’ve already paid the price of their freedom for this struggle.
We’ll also be sending birthday cards to U.S.-held political prisoners with birthdays in August: Bill Dunne (August 2nd), Hanif Shabazz Bey (August 15th), Ronald Reed (August 31st).
from Against Beltway Fascism[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]
The Fascists of the Heritage Foundation
Shine a light on the fascists who wrote Project 2025 . Full list of authors and staff members of the heritage foundation. #Doxxed
AUTHORS OF PROJECT 2025
Robert P. George
371 Prospect Ave, Princeton, NJ 08540
LEADERSHIP
Victoria Coates
132 Bethlehem Pk
Philadelphia PA 19118
It’s official, we’ve started open hours. On Wednesdays from 5PM to 9:30PM we’ll have the space open. Come by and drink a seltzer, read a zine, meet comrades, or just hang out!
Many of you have asked us about how to donate money to the space, we’ve set up a cashapp for just that. You can send funds remotely through the app to $orcaphilly. We appreciate everyone who has pitched in to keep the space open and running.
In the unholy hours of early July we placed caltrops on the driveway of Lockheed Martin in Archbald, Pennsylvania. Hope they fucked up your genocidal vehicles. Quit your jobs. Until you do none of you fools deserve to feel safe. Free Palestine!
In the early morning hours of July 9th, while Ghost Robotics CEO Gavin Kenneally was out of town at the Military Robotics and Autonomous Systems USA conference, several of his neighbors paid his Fairmount townhome a visit.
We threw paint and tagged the messages Ghost Robotics Kills and Murderer on the garage door and front entrance. We refuse to live in a world where Palestinians and migrants crossing the border must fear for their lives at the hands of killer robots, while the makers and war profiteers sleep peacefully in our city. We know where they live.
As our movement gains strength, it will inevitably encounter state repression. How do we respond collectively to this repression? This workshop will discuss some of the tactics most commonly used by police and federal agents to target our movements, and offer suggestions on how to respond. Topics covered will include: what to expect when being arrested in Philadelphia; the role of the FBI in movement repression and how to deal with federal agents; social media “best practices”; and how to support arrestees and political prisoners.
In the past year, the movement for Palestinian liberation has attained unprecedented levels of mobilization. But strategic reflection and study is necessary to keep the movement moving. Writers Against the War on Gaza offers a series of workshops this summer to deepen the knowledge of five elements of the struggle for Palestine: “PACBI,” “Anti-repression,” “Black and Palestinian Solidarity” and “History of Palestinian Resistance.” All are free to attend.
Laura Martin is a labor historian and a member of the Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee, a bail fund and political education collective.
Tori is a legal worker at Up Against the Law Legal Collective, a Philadelphia-based group that supports local activists.
June of 2024 was a busy and dismal month for area nazi’s. There was the arrest of Mark Kauffman at his own wedding, multiple new identifications of local nazis by antifascists, and a small WLM day of action on June 15th in PA. Antifascists also noted a short female in a group picture from the June 15th action and clocked her as the same individual from a photo that S14 posted earlier in the month under the Love Park sign.
As antifascists reviewed footage from the WLM action on June 15 it was discovered that there was footage of her with her mask off. The individual has now been identified as Scotlyn Elyse Schmitt of York, PA.
The photograph from Love Park revealed a connection to none other than Benjamin Ryder. In closed WLM chats, Ryder mentioned having a girlfriend several times, discussing her telegram usernames and her many “accomplishments”. Ryder provided additional context about his girlfriend and how he actually rejected her from WLM-PA previously when they first met over a year ago.
18 months ago, Lynn reached out to WLM-PA and wanted to be vetted and become a member. At the time Ryder was the admin for the state chapter. Ryder was in the middle of rocky patch with a different girlfriend at the time, and suspected Lynn of being this girlfriend’s sock account. Lynn was using her @RileyCat and @RileyPilled2.0 telegram accounts at the time. While Lynn was living in Pittsburgh, she attended the Pennsylvania Gunsmith School where she met members of WLM-OH and became friends. WLM-OH members were able to provide her with a vouch to join WLM-PA. Despite their vouch, Ryder was too paranoid to let her join the PA chapter. Ryder’s relationship issues eventually led to his ex-girlfriend revealing his paranoia, leading to his removal from WLM-PA for a time. Ryder was soon allowed back in the organization by the admin and defacto leader, Evan Plumlee. With this, Ryder was officially back in WLM-PA (telegram profile NAME- Max).
In the spring of 2024, Ryder and Scotlyn Schmitt officially met in person for the vetting process to begin. He informed her that her YouTube channel where she also used the “RileyPilled” username showed her face and could be traced back to her telegram account. In response, Lynn removed the matching telegram account as well as her YouTube channel which contained personal content like her school details.
With Lynn as a full WLM-PA member, Ryder gave membership details on her background. He informed them how Lynn was a member of Injekt Division, admins a few BTC channels on terrorgram, and admins a channel with the “the dildo saleswoman” Dallas Humber. Antifascists were able to confirm most of this information, largely from Lynn herself. Lynn posted a video of herself drunk sharing her telegram handles and posts she made in the WhiteNeighborhoodWatch channel. Screenshots from these videos have been provided as evidence. The videos have not been provided as Lynn does not deserve a platform.
Injekt Division and Terrorgram, the groups and virtual space that Lynn is a part of, are well known for their accelerationist ideology and patriarchal structure. Typically to join Injekt Division one has to be a white male, but notably, they made an exception to the rule for Lynn. This marks Lynn as a unique addition and how much Injekt Division values the reach she has to people like BTC and Brandon Russell and Dallas Humber. Lynn can be can found under her current Telegram profile @massrapist.
Another member of WLM-PA Mathew Bair, is also a self-confirmed member of Injekt Division. Matt Bair was recruited to Injekt after very publicly joining any group he could in the past two years . Although he failed many times (kicked from Blood Tribe soon after touching Pohlhaus’s stick, crashed his Harrisburg Proud Boy chapter, member of the defunct Embrace Struggle Active Club, part of the split between 2119- yes he was in a group with mostly minors), Matt has stayed consistent in his fedposting. Bair is the only known Injekt Division member openly showing his face in terrorgram spaces. There soon will be an update on what he’s been doing recently.
Recently arrested Andrew Takhistov, member of NJEHA and Atlantic Nationalist Club (wannabe NSC131 types who formed from WLM-NJ by Claudino Petrucelli ) was in some Injekt Division chats and channels using his @cossack18 telegram account. Although not a member of Injekt, he is someone who agreed with their worldview. As listed in the DOJ release, he wanted to take down power stations in New Brunswick. This is the type of worldview people like Lynn, Cossack, Bair and many others in the terrorgram spaces share.
Lynn and Ryder have been up to typical dumbass nazi activities, spray-painting a swastikas and posting Injekt Division stickers around Philadelphia. Not long after connecting in person, Lynn moved in with Ryder and their nazi activities escalated. Due to Ryder and Lynn’s escalations antifascists discovered their presence in PA and Ryder’s neighborhood was flyered exposing him as a registered sex offender on the Megan’s Law website. Reportedly, after Ryder’s neighborhood was flyered and an extensive dox was dropped, Lynn moved out quickly. Lynn is reportedly bouncing bouncing around living with different Injekt members
Scotlyn take this as a warning- you just turned 20, you don’t have to live like this. All of your friends end up in jail or dead. Reach out to us phillyfashwatch@riseup.net
Takhistov, aka Cossack, upon his arrest. Takhistov is pictured here without glasses, although he typically wears them.
Just a few days ago Andrew Takhistov, an 18 year old from East Brunswick, was arrested in a federal sting operation where he allegedly solicited an undercover federal agent to blow up two different electrical substations in Central NJ (CNJ). Takhistov is now facing one count of soliciting another individual to engage in criminal conduct, which could result in a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $125,000 fine if convicted. Idavox covered Takhistov’s arrest and charges in depth, more about the specifics can be read here.
Since the release of the federal complaint, Takhistov has been positively identified as a very active neo-nazi that has been a part of the Tristate (NYC, PA, NJ) nazi scene for at least the last two years. Takhistov who goes by the Telegram handles “Cossack” and “Taraz”, is highly dedicated, holding membership in WLM NJ/PA, S14, NJEHA, Atlantic Nationalist Club, and Embrace Struggle, among running his own projects dubbed “White Legion” and “Defend Europe” respectively.
Takhistov’s main Telegram handles. Prior to his arrest a few days ago he was primarily using the “Taraz” account, while his “Cossack” account was on the back burner.
Takhistov first became involved with the tristate nazi scene when he was 16 years old, starting off virtually and connecting with group leaders like S14’s Mark Kauffman and NJEHA’s Dan D’ambly. He quickly became immersed and began to get involved in-person during 2023. Throughout 2023 and 2024 Takhistov was a regular presence at actions and became closer with older more senior members and leadership.
Takhistov, circled in red, during a late December 2023 nazi rally. Mark Kauffman is to his right.
Takhistov at the December 2023 nazi rally. He is standing and is the second individual from the left. Nazis Mark Kauffman and Dan D’ambly are also pictured on the right hand side.
With Takhistov’s further entrenchment he began to reveal more information about himself in public Telegram chats. Specifically, Takhistov discussed his Ukrainian heritage and nationalism at length, often going on long diatribes.
Takhistov’s rant about Ukrainian nationalism. He also reveals personal details about his family history and status as a Ukrainian.
During this time Takhistov attempted to move his project, White Legion, offline into the real world but had limited success. Largely White Legion functioned as a showy propaganda group claiming to do physical conditioning and supporting nationalists in Ukraine. This is also verified by the press release from the federal government about his arrest.
Takhistov’s now dormant White Legion project.
Other than a few propaganda based photo ops across CNJ White Legion was not involved in or planned any independent actions, nor did it become its own individual group focused on recruiting or centralized goal like S14 or NJEHA.
Takhistov boosting his White Legion project. The pictures depict one of the few in-person activities the group did.
Takhistov further bragging about his White Legion project in an S14 chat.
A photo from one of the few activities White Legion did in CNJ at a baseball field in the middle of the night. Takhistov is pictured on the left with another taller (unidentified) nazi on the right.
Commentary from the federal government about Takhistov’s project White Legion.
In early 2024, Takhistov began to get more involved in nazi accelerationist ideology, reposting pictures from Injekt Division, a nazi accelerationist crew similar to Atomwaffen Division, and other Terrorgram channels. Takhistov also expressed his desire to go and fight in Ukraine and assist fellow nazis in propelling the country towards national socialism. It was at this juncture he created his other project/Telegram channel “Defend Europe”.
Takhistov’s new “Defend Europe” project he started in 2024.
Takhistov used this new Telegram channel to produce Ukrainian nationalist/fascist content. He centered Defend Europe around his supposed journey to Ukraine and claimed he was shipping out soon to help fight against the Russian invasion and push for a national socialist Ukraine. Takhistov’s Defend Europe content read more as a LARP fantasy than something that he was actually doing, given the way he went about posting and bragging.
Takhistov pictured holding a Ukrainian nazi flag “prior to shipping out”.
Throughout 2023 and 2024 as Takhistov was engaging in nazi accelerationist activities, he began to connect more with those on Terrorgram, and ended up connecting with an undercover federal agent. Takhistov was essentially catfished by the federal government in early 2024 when he was trying to organically connect with other NJ-based neo-nazis. Takhistov met up with the federal agent several times, with other currently unidentified NJ neo-nazis.
This massive security blunder led to Takhistov being entrapped by the feds in a plot to blow up two different electrical substations in CNJ. The federal agent that Takhistov was in contact with from Terrorgram pushed for a way to get further involved, joining Takhistov and other nazis for a March 2, 2024 action in New Brunswick, NJ. Takhistov and the federal agent met up a few times after this and discussed different tactics used by national socialists, including electrical substation attacks. Takhistov told the agent that he had a trip booked for July 2024 to visit Ukraine and intended to join up with a pro-Ukraine Russian fascist volunteer group fighting against Russia. The agent asked for more details locally and Takhistov passed them off, noting that the agent could plan on doing an attack when Takhistov was over in Ukraine. For several months after that Takhistov sent the agent guides on industrial sabotage, further information on local electrical substations, and details on how to make homemade weapons. Takhistov, the agent, and another unidentified NJ nazi, then went around and scouted out different electrical substations, with the agent providing in-depth insight on how to access the buildings.
An excerpt from the criminal complaint filed by the federal government against Takhistov.
While the federal briefing detailed that Takhistov was arrested at Newark International Airport on his way to Ukraine, it is unclear if Takhistov was accepted into any kind of formal fascist volunteer force. Despite Takhistov’s bravado that he was set to join a group of pro-Ukrainian Russian fascist separatists fighting against Russia it has not been confirmed that Takhistov had solidified plans prior to his arrest. It is more likely that Takhistov intended to forge concrete connections on the ground once he got to Ukraine and try to meet up in-person with the group in an effort to join.
The federal government is famous for trying to entrap the far right, the far left, religious groups, and everyone in between often trying to convince individuals to engage in illegal activities. In this case, Takhistov was duped by the feds to help plan an attack on CNJ infrastructure to be theoretically executed by the federal agent. By no means is this a defense of Takhistov, he is nazi scum who was dumb enough to contact random accounts on a highly surveilled platform (Terrorgram) and got wrapped up in a would be terrorism plot. It is important however to acknowledge that it was the state who pushed the alleged crime and Takhistov.
S14 members: With addition of Andrew Takhistov, 9 of your people have been identified and doxxed including Alex Chubbuck, Benjamin Ryder, Jackson Bradley, Paul Minton, Daisy McGowan, Mathew Bair, Mark Kauffman, and Sara Sheaffer. If you continue to operate, more of your members will be exposed and the pressure will increase. You will be held responsible for the nazi filth that you are.
Sunday, September 15, 2024 11 am sharp (Yoga warm-up at 10am) FDR Park
RDTW 2024
Philadelphia Anarchist Black Cross invites you to our seventh annual Running Down The Walls (RDTW)! This year marks the 25th anniversary of this non-competitive 5K and political education event in support of political prisoners and prisoners of war. Every year we split the proceeds between the ABCF Warchest —which has provided over $240,000 in stipends and other material support to prisoners with little or no other financial means—and a specific political prisoner, organization, or movement we want to uplift. This year we’ll be supporting and amplifying the voices of people struggling for freedom in Gaza, the world’s largest open-air prison.
Resistance is a continuous endeavor.
– Bassel Al-Araj, Palestinian scholar and former political prisoner, martyred
How will proceeds go to support Palestine? If you’ve participated in previous years, you know that we announce the recipient from day one. We have to take a slightly different approach this year due to how rapidly the situation is changing in Palestine. Given the unpredictability, the exact recipient(s) are subject to change. For example, in our initial planning meeting we were in touch with people in Cairo gathering funds for evacuations. With Rafah crossing since closed, other potential beneficiaries include vetted mutual aid groups in the Gaza Strip, and we will coordinate with trusted folks on the ground to distribute resources appropriately after the event. More information will be made available in the reportback.
Running is not required! You can also walk, roll, or cheer. We’ll begin with warm-up stretches at 10am (bring a mat if you can). At 11am, those who want to participate in the 5k will take two loops around the park; at a walking pace, this takes about 45-60 minutes. Afterwards, stay for socializing with speakers, tabling, and light refreshments.
Remote participation is encouraged! Every year we are joined by incarcerated comrades who take part in this by running, walking, or otherwise exercising at the same time as us–from behind bars. If you can’t attend the event at FDR Park for any reason, leave your shipping address in the comment box at registration, and we’ll mail you a t-shirt. If you would like to make an additional contribution beyond your own registration, please sponsor a participant either outside prison, inside prison, or one of each. Contact us for more information on sponsoring.
Due to the abominable conditions that political prisoners and freedom fighters are subjected to, let’s drum up support now more than ever. Join us as we celebrate our successes this last year, including the releases of Veronza Bowers and Eric King, and build momentum for the struggles ahead!
Andrew Takhistov and Steve V. Koshlyak (mugshot from Nov. 2021)
The Atlantic Nationalist Club (we are SO not calling them the ANC!) doesn’t have a lot of members and it seems like they won’t have a lot of members on the outside before long! Also, we have written about one of these guys before!
An 18-year-old member of a New Jersey White Supremacist group was arrested on charges that he solicited others to destroy energy facilities. A few days later, another member of the same group who has had run-ins with law enforcement in the past was also arrested on unknown charges.
On Andrew Takhistov, 18, of East Brunswick, New Jersey was picked up at Newark Airport as he was about to board a flight enroute to fight in Ukraine for the Russian Volunteer Corps, an organization he said was “openly National Socialist,” according to a Department of Justice press release. The release further stated that Takhistov was communicating on a social messaging platform with an individual who he did not know was an undercover law enforcement employee. In those discussions, Takhistov expressed a desire to advance his neo-Nazi ideology through violent means and said another reason why he wanted to join the Russian Volunteer Corps was not just gain paramilitary training but particularly because they specialized in assassinations, attacks on power grids and other infrastructure sabotage.
Takhistov’s arrest came after two visits in June and July to two different electrical substations in North Brunswick and New Brunswick, New Jersey where he instructed the undercover employee on numerous aspects of how to conduct an attack on an electrical substation. It was on July 5, during one of these visits that Takhistov reportedly instructed the undercover employee to take several photographs of the electrical substations so that Takhistov could send them to his Russian friend for additional advice on how to best sabotage the stations.
Takhistov, who was known online as “Cossack,” is a member of the Atlantic Nationalist Club (AnaC, not to be confused with the African National Congress of South Africa), a group with a small handful of members that started in May 2023 as a breakaway from the New Jersey chapter of White Lives Matter (WLM) The group is led by Claudino G. Petruccelli, who in November 2021 was caught by antifa, including members of One People’s Project, attempting to post WLM stickers around Princeton, New Jersey and the following week by police as he tried to do the same thing in Somerville, New Jersey with two others, Zackerji I. Ivanovic, who is reportedly currently with the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, and Steve V. Koshlyak, who is currently a AnaC member. The three were arrested.
On Saturday, an online notification indicated that Koshlyak, who celebrated his 37th birthday two days prior, had been arrested that day and online jail records note that he is currently being held at the Burlington County (NJ) Detention Center in Mount Holly, New Jersey with a jail ID of 117724. There is no further information about his arrest including the department that arrested him or when his first appearance will take place. In addition to his November 2021 arrest, Koshlyak also has a DUI arrest going back to 2014.
While AnaC have been attempting to be known for their flash mob rallies and stickering, often associating with Dan D’Ambly’s New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA), they have been particularly displayed a violent over the past two years both as a WLM chapter and its current incarnation. A group of them including Petruccelli and another member Nicholas G. Mucci participated in the fights at Penn State University in October 2022 when Proud Boy founder Gavin McInnes and internet troll Alex Stein attempted to have an event there. It was shut down after those fights, where Mucci and Petruccelli allegedly pepper sprayed those protesting the event, got out of hand. Last month, Mucci pled guilty to attempting to smoke bomb and pepper spray a benefit show for One People’s Project at a church in Asbury Park, New Jersey three months after Penn State, the smoke bombs purchased in Pennsylvania the day of the event there, and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 16. These latest two arrests will make three members of the small hate group currently imprisoned.
According to the Department of Justice press release, Takhistov is charged with one count of soliciting another individual to engage in criminal conduct that involved destroying a public service enterprise group circuit breaker and substation. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $125,000 fine. Charges are still pending for Koshlyak at the time of this posting.
In the early hours of July 9th we smashed every window of the entrance to the Pennovation center, a ritzy research compound in Philadelphia. The lone security guard must have been so surprised when we appeared out of nowhere and started smashing, because he didn’t even try to stop us! And we couldn’t believe how long it took for the police to show up…
The Pennovation center is home to Ghost Robotics, a company that manufactures so-called “robot dogs.” Israel has been buying these robot dogs for $150,000 apiece and using them in their ongoing extermination of Palestinians. While the University of Pennsylvania continues to enable the research and manufacture of these weapons, Israel has destroyed every university in the Gaza strip, and continues to bomb schools where Palestinian refugees are taking shelter. Breaking windows is a small retaliation, but every time we act emboldens us.
Until Palestine is free, and even then, we will never stop!
