from Anathema
Volume 10 Issue 1 (PDF for reading 8.5×11)
Volume 10 Issue 1 (PDF for printing 11×17)
In This Issue:
from It’s Going Down
Massive protests in support of Palestinians in the occupied territories under attack by Israeli forces have continued, with militant street marches taking place in Philadelphia, direct actions shutting down an arms supplier in Boston, freeways being blocked by mass marches in the bay area, an enormous sit-in by anti-Zionist Jews grinding the main terminal to Grand Central Station in New York City to a halt, and pickets of a defense contractor taking place in so-called Toronto.
These actions come hot on the heels of comments from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre comparing demonstrators opposing the occupation of Palestine by the state of Israel, which in recently leaked documents called for the ethnic-cleansing of the occupied territories, to the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville in 2017. The Anti-Defamation League has also called for pro-Palestinian groups on campus to be investigated for allegedly providing “material support” to groups like Hamas. Biden has also attempted to claim that the number of deaths reported by Palestinian health officials, upwards of 8,000 just so far, are false, a statement discredited by fact-checkers.
Conditions within Gaza continue to rapidly turn into a hellscape, with hospitals shutting down due to lack of fuel and water and millions running out of a basic necessities. James Elder, spokesperson at UNICEF stated recently, “The numbers are appalling; reportedly more than 3,450 children killed; staggeringly this rises significantly every day. Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else.” Currently Israeli forces have entered Gaza as bombings continue, such as the recent attack on the Jabalia refugee camp.
As this horror plays out, thousands continue to take to the streets across the so-called United States, Canada, and around the world. Here’s a roundup of recent mass demonstrations and direct actions.
A report back posted to Philly Anti-Capitalist read:
Saturday night, October 28th, in light of the communication blackout in and increased bombing of Gaza, approximately a thousand people assembled in Center City Philadelphia for an emergency call to action in support of Palestinians.
The crowd included people responding to an additional call for anarchists and anti-colonial radical presence at the demonstration. We were among them. The call suggested attendees wear black clothes and keffiyahs or ski masks. We chose to wear both, layering keffiyahs over ski masks because the clear show of solidarity was important to us. A hot fashion tip: we were able to remove a layer and still be covered and anonymous.
Soon after the rally became a march, we and others began covering the walls with decolonial slogans. Some favorites: FREE GAZA, FUCK ISRAEL, DECOLONIZE, VIVA PALESTINA, FAUDA, FAGGOTS AGAINST EMPIRE, BLOOD$ (on banks along the way), and FUCK BIDEN WHOLE LIFE. Those in bloc were particularly good at looking out for each other as painting took place, and it felt thrilling to write on a wall, fuck up a bank, inhale the smell of fresh paint. Even more thrilling was the response from other demonstrators! Everyone had each other’s backs, whether they were in the black bloc or not. Other demonstrators pushed out snitches, shielded writers from cops and security guards, warned us vandals when the cops were looking for us, and also joined in, borrowing paint cans and markers to write their own slogans. There were some close calls with law enforcement but at the end of the night no one was arrested. We love to see it!
After a while things got hot (girl, it was 80º out) and the cops were on the lookout. People transitioned 😉 into new looks, and mixed into the crowd. Passing privilege, baby!
In Rittenhouse Square, the crowd paused, blocking the intersection and surrounding a sound truck. Activists gave speeches from the truck bed. It was cute until these two boys showed up, oh my god! They tried to put up Zionist propaganda (those “missing person” posters, you’ve seen them) in the middle of the crowd, but that wasn’t going to happen, obviously. People ripped down the only poster they got up, and then confiscated the rest. A very patient and generous activist escorted them away and down the block. This is a good place to remind you that these tactics are often a ploy to film, dox, and harass. If you’re going to interfere, go off, but like, be unidentifiable (no face, no tatts, no case).
The march had great energy and a lot of the chants were inspiring and like, literally revolutionary or insurrectionary so… Anyway, we had some fantasies after being in such an exciting environment. If this was the energy here, just imagine what could happen if this demo passed by as ugly as a military recruitment center or a weapons manufacturer’s office?
In all earnestness, people are angry, grieving, and fucking fed up with inaction in response to peaceful protest. While yes, we could have seen that last one coming, the warm reception to criminality and confrontation that night has us wondering what horizon we can reach for next. What could a more directed march be like? What can we do now, within the belly of this fucking empire? After all, the things around us are not disconnected from the genocide in Palestine – the politicians, the arms dealers, the funders, the surveillance technologists, many of them have offices, warehouses, or some physical presence here. They are real people doing things in real places, we can go to them and touch them, and it will effect their ability to collaborate on genocide.
Xoxo
Faggots for intifada
As the war continues to intensify with the complete backing of the United States government, resistance in solidarity with Palestine shows no signs of stopping, as the need for an end to the bombardment only becomes more dire for those living in the occupied territories.
Submission
Recently, there’s been a lot more motion in terms of Philly anarchy stuff (attacks, events, and actions). I think it can be attributed to a variety of phenomenon. But I think a big part of it is a phrase that a comrade and I recently discussed that I’m gonna call “social insurrectionary methods”.
I think that the social insurrectionary methods have been a tendency in Philly in the past as I understand it but we’re seeing a major return of those methods. Fundamentally, social insurrectionary methods rely upon efforts by anarchists to orient in a more social way while maintaining our insurrectionary anarchist politics. This differentiates us from “civil anarchists” who compromise their own politics in the name of unity or liberalism or leftist politics or deference. The social insurrectionary methods come with some risks obviously in terms of security. I think that is why some people are less interested in those methods due to the risks. However, I think those risk can be counteracted by the fact that every insurrectionary actor does not need to be involved in every direct action. We can practice security culture and have different spheres of activation for different people. We don’t need to be friends with everyone. We just gotta keep social spaces alive.
I think a forward facing or at least a more open anarchist space can provide more opportunities for new comrades (especially those who might not normally be exposed to anarchist politics due to racial and class segregation) to take part in struggle. Some of these things have been visible and others have been less visible. I think efforts like the work parties that took part at Bartrams, the organizing meetings and mob vandalism against Moms for Liberty, the martial arts training space (which is very Black and queer), intervention around ideas at political spaces such as the Block Cop City talk or the George Floyd Uprising Book talk, film screenings, Black anarchist meetups, discussion groups on Palestine solidarity, Philly contingents going to anarchist convergences (we brag about how great Philly anarchy is), friend hangouts in the park, Black anarchists working alongside Black nationalists to do self defense training and study, anarchists fighting in the Eddie Izirarry riots, and various other types of social activities tied to a politics of revolt are good examples of social insurrectionary activity. Or maybe that’s just being a serious anarchist. We build with each other as well as bringing in new people. I just want it to keep happening. I haven’t been this excited about anarchism in Philly in a while. This trend is only continuing with more discussion groups, meet-ups, and an upcoming Anarchist skill share in November. It’s all so exciting. Just keep planning stuff, please!
I think this social tendency of anarchists makes us strong and brings new people to our movement. I think the thing I’ve had conversations with people about a lot over the course of the past 12 months about is basically that anarchists must organize interventions and events on our own. And that’s the important thing for us to do rather than downplaying or diminishing our politics while at the same moment being open to people that might not share our politics. That’s the social insurrectionary method. In some ways, the social insurrectionary method by being uncompromising in our politics forces other political people to either adapt or at least respect the anarchist perspective. By organizing our own spaces and making our position clear we operate from a position of strength that we can communicate our ideas while not downplaying them.
I honestly think this is where affinity comes in to be honest. It’s easier to stand solid on your shit if comrades got your back. Whether it’s going to a work party with some friends, arguing with liberals at a Block Cop City event, moving in the streets as people spray paint, talking shit about how leftists in the city are cowards, anarchist fight training events, attending actions together that end up being wack but having fun being together, drinking cider on the porch, acrobatic exercises to do bad shit, or discussing a new zine that just dropped…social insurrectionary methods are great and fun and it doesn’t have to be FUCKING liberal or sub-cultural. Social insurrectionary methods for the win. Bring your comrades. Have their back. Even if it’s a small thing. Social means we move together and broaden our capacity as we move. We don’t all have to agree, we just gotta have respect, be anarchists and be in conversation. That’s a thing I really like about the anarchist space in Philly right now. Let’s keep up the energy. I love going to things where I see people I don’t know!
PS: Also, for comrades who aren’t in Philly. You can do all of this too. Just begin. We’re able to do it in Philly cause people just wanted cool shit to happen. The secret is to really begin!
Some Suggestions for social insurrectionaries
-More anarchist work parties
-Anarchist meetups/potlucks of every variety (for queer anarchists, black anarchists, disabled anarchists, anarchists who DJ, etc)
-Anarchist reading groups or film screenings
-Anarchist crew up and go to a wack event and critique it (a personal preference)
-More anarchist fight meetups (maybe with a debate interlude)
-Anarchist jogging meetups
-More Anarchist bike rides
-More Black bloc please
-More anarchist rave
-Anarchist hip hop show (no white race traitors allowed)
-More anarchist meetups at wack actions for activities
-No phone hangouts
-More Philly anarchist road trips to other cities (I hear harrisburg and pittsburgh are pretty cool)
-More anarchist skill shares that are not fight training
-More mob vandalism
-attack level 1 communist enemies with your level 25 anarchist crew
from Jersey Counter-Info
Back in 2020, Jackson Bradley was identified as a member of Dan D’ambly’s Neo nazi group NJEHA. In 2021, it was similarly discovered that Bradley was Patriot Front’s point of contact in Philadelphia and the main culprit behind White Lives Matter PA’s Telegram channel. Since his original doxxing in 2020 and 2021, Bradley has taken a step back from the public eye keeping a low key profile, deleting his Facebook account, tightening up his online security, and trying to wipe his presence from the internet. He has now been positively identified as a member of a local Neo nazi crew, S14.
A more recent public report on Bradley from 2021 stated that he had been using the alias “Jesse Herring” online and was last spotted in Philly with other Neo Nazis like Jovi Val. Due to new information submitted to NJ Hate Watch, it has been confirmed that this reported sighting and details about Bradley’s online activity are inaccurate.
The actual Neo Nazi that was documented and pictured is Wisconsin native Jesse Herring. As Bradley retreated from public view he probably thought he got lucky for being misidentified for Herring. The irony here though is that Bradley and Herring know each other and run in the same circles of fascists.
Since he was misidentified as Herring in 2021, not much new information has been publicly documented on Bradley. While Bradley clearly took his operational security more seriously than other identified S14 members, like Mark Kauffman and Mathew Bair, he ultimately failed to obfuscate himself too.
Bradley fell back into apps like Telegram and Gab and began to make more in-person Tristate (NJ, PA, NY) area connections. Bradley made a number of shell profiles on Telegram in an effort to prevent potential identification. Unfortunately for Bradley, he failed to fundamentally change anything about his posts, communication style, and how his profile was constructed. So while Bradley would bounce from profile to profile, antifascists were able to keep a thread on him due to these identified factors.
Antifascists were also able to put together a bigger picture to Bradley’s background and history as a fascist and white nationalist. According to Bradley, and verified by antifascists, he is a lifelong Philadelphia resident who has deep family ties to the city. Bradley currently lives on Elfreth’s Alley in Philadelphia with his family.
Bradley has an interest in Philadelphia “white history” and is very attached to historically white neighborhoods in the city. Bradley often rambles about “diversity” and how non-white, Jewish, and LGBTQ+ Philadelphia residents are ruining the city. He also frequently talks about how Philadelphia and south western PA should be reclaimed for white people .
Bradley’s ire over the racial make up of Philadelphia as well as his history of racist and bigoted actions show that is he poses a danger to racialized and other marginalized individuals.
Bradley has been a white nationalist for over seven years, meaning he became one while in high school as a young teenager. Bradley attended Hill Top Preparatory School during his middle and high school years, eventually graduating in 2017. He then attended Cabrini University in PA and graduated with a BA in History in 2022. Prior to and since graduating college Bradley has worked several different jobs including seasonal work and manual labor.
Hill Top Prep is an expensive private school that specifically serves students who have unique educational needs, like autism and ADHD, that often do not have the same resources as those who attend public schools. Similarly, Cabrini University is an expensive small private Catholic university, with a large endowment. After graduating from college Bradley does not appear to have used his degree to obtain employment, instead choosing to work seasonal jobs and other positions that he is “overqualified” for. Given all this information on Bradley, it’s clear he comes from wealth and has family money/resources that he relies on.
During 2022 when he was finishing up college, Bradley connected with Mark Kauffman and Stephen Quest’s burgeoning group, the now rebranded National Socialist Youth Alliance (NSYA). Bradley in fact became one of the first on-the-ground Tristate members of the NSYA and attended their premiere rally in January 2023 in Hamilton, NJ.
When the NSYA eventually split from Stephen Quest’s leadership Bradley followed Kauffman over to his newly formed offshoot organization, S14. Since S14’s launch, Bradley has made himself useful to the group providing design work and other computer based support. He helps to put out the groups propaganda and report backs from their pop-up rallies. Because of this, Bradley has been present at most of S14 and NJEHA’s events. Notably, Bradley likes to wear the same/similar gear to each of these rallies to try and conceal his identity, almost always wearing an American flag face covering.
Bradley was also present at NJEHA’s failed Princeton, NJ rally over this past summer and helped push their propaganda after the fact.
Additionally, Bradley has been known to hang out with Mark Kauffman and other PA based Neo nazis to do fascist flyering and stickering across Philadelphia and south western PA. This includes activity in Fishtown and the Ridley, PA white supremacist flyering action which is currently being investigated by the state and covered by local news media.
Bradley has also revealed that he is quite prolific in his online connections and relationships with other Neo nazi groups in the US, including NSC 131, well known white supremacists, and several different “Active Clubs” including chapters in Las Vegas and PA.
Overall Bradley is quite prolific and has many different tendrils to other white nationalists and fascists across the US. Bradley has been able to be so active and bold in his day to day life because he has family resources (money) to fall back on and has weathered previous “attacks” from antifascists. Any guise of safety is now over.
S14 members: With addition of Jackson Bradley, six of your people have officially been identified and doxxed including 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 accountable for the nazi filth that you are.
Send tips and information: njhatewatch@protonmail.com
Submission
On Monday August 14th 2023, Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial shot and killed Eddie Irizarry as he sat in his car. Police initially lied saying that Eddie attacked the cop with a knife, but video footage showed that Eddie was shot in mere seconds while seated in his car with the window up. Following this Dial was suspended for 30 days pending termination. In early September Dial was charged with a number of crimes including murder but the presiding judge would eventually dismiss his charges. The cops who attended the court date in uniform cheered and celebrated when the charges were dropped. On September 26th, that same day Eddie’s family and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (alongside Black leftist groups like Black Alliance for Peace and the W.E.B. DuBois Movement School) organized a peaceful march through Center City protesting the decision. That demonstration dispersed after a couple hours but was followed by looting, initially in Center City before spreading to West, North, and Northeast Philly as the night went on.
The Black liberation movement is alive! Those who say it’s dead are either racist or not in the street and these revolts are the proof. Although the number of people in the streets was smaller than in 2020, there was widespread revolt across Philadelphia. Police killed Eddie Irizarry, a non-Black Puerto Rican, and Black people responded with revolt. Similarly in 2020 in Kenosha, WI when Kyle Rittenhouse killed two white people in the midst of a riot against police and later had his charges dropped, Black people rioted in the Bay Area. These are both examples of a Black consciousness that recognizes anti-Black systems regardless of if they are targeting Black people in a specific instance.
Here in Philly looters and rioters were well prepared. People were overwhelmingly masked, wearing black clothes, and many were brandishing tools. The looting was organized spontaneously over social media the same day as it took place. People used police scanners to monitor police and prepare for their responses. Numerous businesses, car lots, and ATMs were targeted throughout the city, spreading the PPD thin. Many participants used cars to move between businesses, as getaways, and to generally stay mobile.
It is a far too common belief among radicals that the state is omniscient. This night of rebellion proves otherwise, that opportunity is abundant for insurrectionary activity! As Black radicals (and generally for “political” people) we need to understand it’s possible to get away with things if we plan on challenging the state. Many ordinary people already know this and behaved accordingly.
The riots on Tuesday night into Wednesday are an image from the future. Sprawling and scattered rebellions are becoming the norm. Better prepared participants spread across the city, overwhelming police forces that feel they cannot defend everything at once. What moves do we want to make in this new context?
After the run on the Apple store, as people saw that their looted iPhones and iPads were being tracked and bricked by security systems, they smashed them immediately. Poured orange juice on them. Dropped them into the sewers. A beautiful display of how commodities are bullshit. Destroying anti-Blackness necessarily involves attacking property and the relations needed to maintain it, whether commodities or capital. Black consciousness cannot be separated from class consciousness.
It is important to note that this revolt and the George Floyd Uprising (including the Walter Wallace rebellion nestled within it) hold key differences. This recent riot was overwhelmingly Black with minor Latine participation in the Northeast, as opposed to the multiracial character of 2020. This lines up with the reality of Black people being the most advanced in struggle against the so-called United States. September’s revolt also saw a more chill vibe with little focus on fighting police, as looters helped each other attack property and evade capture. They seemed to have a more collaborative and joyous attitude compared to the Walter Wallace rebellion of October 2020, which saw more skepticism and lateral violence amongst participants. Another interesting difference from those events was that September 2023 saw Black people of various ideologies and walks of life moving together in insurrection. As a result the revolt rejected a conventional political character while still maintaining an inherent black consciousness (best exemplified by the occasional Black Trump supporter joining in on the smash-and-grab).
The second day, looting continued in a smaller capacity although the larger crowds that gathered were noticeably absent. Instead, people mostly used their cars to do smash and grabs. The police were also more prepared and mobilized on the second day. Understandly, this probably meant a lot more people stayed home because the police presence was far more intense on the street.
The Left was either too afraid of or uninterested in participating in the Black revolt, sidestepped and left behind by young people who organized themselves via social media. These socialist groups constantly talk about the need for organziation. But young Black people on the 26th were ready to go. They didn’t need any self appointed community organizers then and they don’t now. The looting on September 26th is just a form of self organization that the Left refuses to take seriously. At best we saw boilerplate analyses that looting pales in comparison to corporate wage theft. The WEB DuBois School of Abolition went so far as to make a statement saying “it isn’t our task to either celebrate or condemn the actions” of the looters. The inability (and cowardice) of leftist groups to even consider publicly celebrating attacks on capital by young Black people speaks to a real division between what Black people are doing versus what the Left is doing. The issue of how to include more activist and leftist organizations is as irrelevant as ever, the question now is how do we continue to sidestep the left and add to the growth of ever more terrible revolts?
Anarchists made an effort to add to the situation. Anarchists were not only present during the riots (albeit to a limited degree), some also carried out attacks. Although anarchists were largely late to the game in terms of intentionally participating, a good amount of anarchists showed up. Segregation and being in different social networks may have played a part in why our response as anarchists was delayed. A proposal of dispersed attacks was made and followed through on. That said, an opportunity to raise morale was missed by prioritizing atomized attack over group action. The anarchist space in Philadelphia is growing right now, and tempering cautious attitudes with encouragement and support can further encourage that growth. Black clothes are cool again, anarchists need not worry about alienating others with monochrome outfits, though some sportswear brands (Nike, Adidas, and Champion were common) might go a long way.
This moment felt like an opening salvo of mass revolts to come. Let’s stay ready for next time.
– Some black anarchists in Philly
from Anathema
Volume 9 Issue 2 (PDF for reading 8.5×11)
Volume 9 Issue 2 (PDF for printing 11×17)
In this issue:
Submission
Development is officially moving forward – though very slowly – in destroying the alluring wastelands of Bartram’s North, the wooded riverside area just north of Bartram’s Gardens in Southwest Philly. For years, this area has been a favorite hangout spot for anarchists, ravers, feminist nude sunbathers, and other companions in being up to no good. Within the past eight months, a fence has gone up – twice – around the fields adjacent to the bike path that runs through the area, and a nearby building is slated to be demolished at the end of July. Earlier that month, three surveillance cameras were installed high up along Botanic Ave, the street that leads up to Bartram’s North. An unpermitted rave at Bartram’s in mid-July was reportedly broken up by police, which was to our knowledge the first time cops had kicked a party out of that location.
Resistance to the project has also been moving along, but slowly. According to websites like Philly Anti-Cap, over this calendar year so far the following events and actions have taken place:
– January: A zine is released entitled “Fuck a ‘Cellicon Valley’: Against the Proposed Development of Bartram’s North and South.”
– February: “Fuck Cellicon Valley” graffiti goes up along with “No Cop City” slogans.
– February: A Valentine’s Day-themed communique entitled “ISO Fence4Fence” notes that the fence around Bartram’s North has been broken down and is accompanied by anti-Cellicon Valley graffiti nearby.
– February: Iffy Books hosts a zine launch and social to publicize “Fuck a ‘Cellicon Valley.'”
– March: A communique claims the sabotage of a machine at Bartram’s North that was in the process of destroying “one of our favorite post-industrial wildernesses.” Bleach was poured into the tanks and tools were stolen.
– March: An anarchist assembly meets to discuss the various ecological and place-based struggles across the city, connecting the proposed struggle at Bartram’s with other campaigns like Save the Meadows, Save the UC Townhomes, No Arena in Chinatown, and the fight against the Cobbs Creek golf course.
– March/April: Anti-development and other anarchist graffiti goes up in Bartram’s North, including “Land Back” and Developers GTFO (A).”
– April: A communique posts photos of graffiti at Bartram’s North (with slogans including “fuck in the forest (A)” and “developers GTFO”) “for those Sexy Elves and Fairies out there in the Sex Forest. Let’s make the space more fun and cute while we defend the land. ;-)”
– May: A “work party” takes down most of the fence around the Bartram’s North fields for a second time and puts up more graffiti.
– June: “Feral gnomes” write a claim taking responsibility for pouring grit into the lubricating system of an earth-destroying machine at Bartram’s.
The proposal for “Cellicon Valley,” part of the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan, threatens to build a biotech campus at the sites of Bartram’s North and Bartram’s South. As well as demolishing the green spaces in those areas, the proposal also likely involves razing Bartram’s Village (the project housing nearby), and displacing its residents to build a new road to the Bartram’s South site.
This proposal is part of an ongoing effort by Philadelphia’s city planners to attract tech investment and brand the city as a new tech hot spot in competition with innovation hubs like Boston, the Bay and Silicon Valley itself. The city has been trying to do this kind of thing for a while, with mixed results, for example with Philadelphia’s failed attempt around 2018 to win the bid to house Amazon’s second national headquarters.
It is critical that we help them continue to fail in this goal. The effects of gentrification have already been devastating, and taking it to this level would make the city unlivable for everyone except a newly arrived generation of yuppie tech gentry.
The city is still looking for a partner to actually carry out the development process at Bartram’s. The PIDC (Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation) is reportedly in conversation with three development firms: Quaker Lane Capital, Gattuso Development Partners/AR Spruce, and Lincoln Property Company. The latest information we have, from February 2023, says they expected to select a partner and negotiate a development agreement by the second quarter of 2023.
It is much easier to intimidate potential developers, discouraging them from committing to the project in the first place, than it is to dissuade companies that have already signed a contract. Waiting until a developer is actually chosen might galvanize resistance by helping publicize the project and showing people it’s a real threat, but do we really want to wait til the deal is done, mainstream media has decided to start talking about (i.e. advertising) it, and everyone else on the opposition has been put on point to promote the project and squash resistance?
At this time, it’s not certain that any of the above development firms will even decide to commit to the project. If we act now, we can make this potential failure a reality. If we wait til later, we can still make construction a problem for the developers, but we’ll be at more of a disadvantage.
We don’t need to rely on our opposition’s timeline or their media; we can create our own. At this moment, we have the chance to widely publicize the project *ourselves*, spreading the information we want to see spread and finding potential accomplices, while the city waits around for their side of things to get finalized. It might not feel like it, but the time in which it’ll be most effective to act is now.
Who’s Responsible:
– PIDC (Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation), a non-profit founded by the city of Philadelphia and the Chamber of Commerce that funds development, is the main vehicle of this project
– Anne Bovaird Nevins, President of PIDC
– Angie Fredrickson, Vice President of Real Estate Services of PIDC (oversees the group’s marketing efforts in the Lower Schuylkill)
– Tom Dalfo, Senior Vice President of Real Estate Services for PIDC (oversaw the implementation of the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan)
– Colliers Life Sciences, “elite” real estate advisors leading the effort to solicit developers for the biotech campus
– Joseph Fetterman, Executive Vice President
– Clifford Brechner, Vice President
– Matthew Barkann, Associate
– William Penn Foundation, funders of the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan, along with the City of Philadelphia
– PennPraxis, local advisors and facilitators for the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan
– PHA (Philadelphia Housing Authority)
– Urban Land Institute (ULI) Philadelphia – assembled the panel of experts in 2021 (sponsored by PIDC) that recommended and specified suggestions for the development of Bartram’s
– All development firms that have shown interest in the project
Some ideas:
– Counter-information about the project (on site and in general)
– Actions against people responsible for development
– Work parties
– Dare to dream >:)
Submission
from Jersey Counter-Info
Back in May 2023, Mathew D. Bair was identified by Philly Antifa as the leader of the First Capital Proud Boys/Common Sons of Pennsylvania and a member of other PA far right groups like White Lives Matter. Bair was rightfully exposed as a Neo-Nazi and his ties to far right groups in the Tristate area were revealed. Since his initial unmasking, further information has been gathered on Bair showing that he is also a member of S14, a regional Neo-Nazi crew.
Bair, who goes by “Cotton Hill” on Telegram, first publicly joined S14 during the Spring of 2023. Bair quickly got acquainted with Mark Kauffman, a leader of S14, and began cross posting propaganda from different local far right organizations. He also bragged about the amount of graffiti and stickering he was doing for White Lives Matter over the Dover and York PA area.
At some point during this time, Kauffman and Bair got closer and began hanging out socially and doing different actions together in person.
Bair was interested in impressing his peers and getting more involved in S14. When Bair’s doxx by Philly Antifa dropped in May, he used it as an opportunity to try and gloat and look tough to his fellow Neo-Nazis, declaring on the S14 public telegram channel that his address listed in the doxx was incorrect.
If Bair’s ego had been in check he wouldn’t have made the serious operational security (opsec) mistake of publicly mentioning that the address listed for him was wrong. Bair and his family have moved upwards of half a dozen times over the past four years, muddling their living history. He could have easily chosen not to say anything and protect his and his family’s anonymity but ultimately, Bair’s arrogance got the better of him.
Bair’s revelation enabled local antifascists to identify and confirm his actual current address: an apartment in a large multi family house on N Main Street in Dover, PA. Bair lives there with his long term girlfriend and their kids.
Antifascists were able to pull recent pictures from Bair’s family and compare them to photos from Bair’s rental history. Through a process of elimination the house on N Main Street in Dover, PA was positively identified as Bair’s current residence.
For whatever reason Bair thinks the information released about him in the May 2023 doxx, including his dropped lawsuit against York PA police, prior drug arrests, his positive identification as a failed January 6 insurrectionist, and his court martial and discharge from the Marines, is a badge of honor. Bair has no sense of self reflection or preservation, as he has functionally changed nothing about how he operates, further opening up his entire family to potential consequences for his own independent actions.
To top things off, Bair has recently been in the habit of promoting S14 and the Common Sons of Pennsylvania by directly involving his very young children and his girlfriend in propaganda. At the time of publishing it is unclear if Bair’s girlfriend has any direct involvement in either Neo-Nazi group.
Bair’s hubris and opsec may in fact be the worst out of the entire group, even outshining Kauffman. During the week of July 17, 2023, Bair posted a series of voice messages whining about NJ Hate Watch’s coverage of Kauffman stating verbatim “what do I have to do to be mentioned”. Bair was likely trying to act tough while sucking up to Kauffman.
Despite awareness of the continued coverage and exposure of S14’s members, the group is largely acting as if nothing has happened. This is of course on top of them being surveilled by the state (Nicholas Mucci was connected to WLM and S14 members after getting picked up by the federal government and several state agencies after a protest).
S14 members consider this a warning: With addition of Mathew Bair, five of your members have officially been identified and doxxed including Paul Minton, Daisy McGowan, Mark Kauffman, and Sara Sheaffer. If you continue to operate your members will continue to be exposed, the pressure will be increased, and there will be real world repercussions.
Send tips and information: njhatewatch@protonmail.com
from Jersey Counter-Info
S14, known officially as Storm 14, is a Tristate (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York) Neo-Nazi organization that has been increasingly active in the region as of March 2023. They have been busy with banner drops, conducting protests, and doing large scale stickering and graffiti campaigns, in an effort to recruit masses of young people and push their fascist agenda. Their escalating activity, includes the rollout of a propaganda subcommittee, which stages flashy fascist demos like their recent midnight New Brunswick march, as a part of their larger organizational growth strategy.
To analyze S14’s current activity and future organizational trajectory a closer look at their origin must be taken.
Back in October 2022, an Illinois based Neo-Nazi known by the alias Stephen Quest, put out a call on Stormfront that he was forming a national socialist organization called the National Socialist Youth Alliance (NSYA), aimed at young people. Quest modeled this organization after the National Alliance. He requested that interested people message him to help form on the ground attachments.
Quest created a closed Gab account for the NSYA and altered his personal account to recruit young people and create tangible on the ground cells. At this point in time, Quest began actively recruiting and connecting with prospective members on Gab.
At some point in late 2022, Quest formed a circle of other leaders and began to push for in person attachments and actions to take place. Quest placed a Nazi using the alias “Joachim Peiper”, as the leader or “commandant” and took up post as the second in command. (Peiper has since been unmasked as Philadelphia resident Mark A. Kauffman). Kauffman’s Gab account was created during this time as well. Kauffman took charge in leading on the ground support and action for the NSYA in the Tristate area.
In early January 2023, Kauffman officially launched the NSYA’s Tristate attachment at a collaborative protest in Hamilton NJ, in support of the right wing January 6 insurrection prisoners. Kauffman and other NSYA members, including Kauffman’s fiance Sara Sheaffer, worked with WLM-PA and NJEHA and their leader Dan D’ambly for this protest.
Kauffman and the NSYA also unveiled their organization flag at this same protest, signalling its usage for the first time on the ground.
Kauffman and the NSYA Tristate attachment continued to do actions with D’ambly and NJEHA, WLM-PA, and other fascists like Embrace Struggle AC and Atlantic Nationalist Club throughout January and February 2023. They coordinated cross posts on all of their respective organizations social media to promote their partnership.
Despite increasing organizational overlap and connections being forged within the Tristate far right, as of February 2023, Kauffman and Quest were drifting a part organizationally. Reportedly Quest began acting erratically.
After an internal power struggle the NSYA split, with Quest keeping the NSYA organization and moniker and Kauffman leaving with the majority of membership behind him to start a different iteration of the group, S14.
Kauffman launched S14 in March 2023. With Kauffman now in place as the organization’s head, or “commandant”, he instituted a new ranking system, logos, and different organizational structures with a primary focus on recruitment and propaganda.
At some point during NSYA/S14’s time of flux, former antifascist now turned fascist Paul Minton and his girlfriend Daisy McGowan, also joined the group.
Notably, Kauffman has forged strong bonds with several subordinates, who he has given leadership positions to, in order to help direct S14’s subcommittees and regular day to day activities. This includes his fiance Sheaffer, who now acts as his second in command and is taking on greater responsibility for S14’s functioning. As such, S14 has been producing recruitment propaganda and running in person actions between NJ and PA at a steady rate since the split.
Internally, with Kauffman at the helm of S14 and Sheaffer at his side, the organization’s main drive is on building up base membership numbers. Kauffman specifically has special interest in recruiting underage teenagers and those in their 20’s and 30’s.
Kauffman and his circle, which includes minors in organizational leadership roles, has been very active inundating both PA and NJ with physical and virtual recruitment materials, as evident by both the mainstream news and their own propaganda videos. Their propaganda subcommittee has been prolific in creating both general S14 propaganda and merchandise for them internally.
Externally, Kauffman and S14 has put a lot of energy into promoting cross-organizational membership and solidarity between the different fascist organizations in the area. Kauffman is open about the fact he is also personally a member of WLM-PA and routinely references that members of NJEHA, S14, the Garden State Nationalists, WLM-PA, Embrace Struggle AC, and Atlantic Nationalist Club have crossover membership. Kauffman and his crew can also be seen in their varying propaganda videos putting up graffiti and stickers from these organizations as well.
While S14’s activity in the region has been escalating over time their bad security culture practices, probable swarming of state agencies, and resistance from antifascists leaves one to wonder how long they can keep this up before their behavior catches up with them. This is especially true now that certain S14 members like Kauffman, Sheaffer, Minton, and McGowan have been exposed and now have a magnifying glass on them. The heat will likely only be turning up higher considering their ownership over their Ridley Township white nationalist flyering action and their proven connections to Nicholas Mucci, who has the force of the state crushing him down.
Despite all of this including the recent doxxes of Kauffman and Sheaffer as covered NJ Hate Watch, S14 and their members don’t seem to be changing anything they are doing and are navigating their social media platforms as if nothing has happened. There are changes on the horizon however and S14 members will continue to be exposed for who they really are.
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from Jersey Counter-Info
S14, officially known as Storm Division, is a tristate (NJ, PA, NY) area neo nazi group that has been very active over the past few months. They have been busy doing pop-up propaganda demos, trying to recruit virtual and in-person members, mass stickering and putting up fascist graffiti in the region, specifically in the Philadelphia area and NJ. They have also been pushing a united front amongst the far right in the area and openly hold multiple different memberships within groups like NJEHA, Embrace Struggle Active Club, WLM, Atlantic Nationalist Club, and the Garden State Nationalists.
Their activity has been increasingly organized with some of their most recent actions making local media headlines. Despite their high level of organization and escalating actions, S14 and their members have gotten sloppy with their own security.
Due to lapses in S14’s security, antifascists have been able to identify their two leaders, “commandant Joachim Peiper” and his “wife”, as Mark A. Kauffman and Sara Sheaffer respectively.
Kauffman and Sheaffer are engaged to be married and are both originally from Massachusetts, having lived in different parts of the state. According to Kauffman, they bounced around a bit in MA and settled in Philadelphia several years ago. Antifascists were able to independently verify Kauffman’s account and confirmed that as of now he and Sheaffer live in North Philadelphia on East Wishart Street. Kauffman also supposedly owns property in the south, “on the Mason Dixon line”.
Kauffman reportedly works in construction as a foreman at A Woman Owned Contractor, a “Hispanic owned” construction firm which does large scale commercial roofing and construction services. (More details on Kauffman’s employer and how to contact them will be listed at the end of the article).
Prior to moving to Philadelphia, Kauffman was in the US Army for several years and completed two combat tours in the Middle East. At that point he was already a nazi, as he stated in a public message on S14’s telegram channel.
After his time in the Army, Kauffman was homeless in MA for some time, at one point staying at an NGO that provides assistance to homeless veterans. During this time he and Sheaffer were also using hard drugs and in 2018, Kauffman was brought up on drug trafficking and weapons possession charges in MA. Kauffman reportedly had several ounces of meth and illegal firearms in a storage unit.
There was no media follow up on how the case against Kauffman turned out and nothing was publicized. It’s not clear exactly when Kauffman and Sheaffer got clean and moved to Philadelphia, but it is suspected to be around the 2018/2019 time frame.
Kauffman’s white nationalist activities prior to 2022 are hazy, but it seems that Kauffman decided to publicly organize and establish ties with other fascists during 2022 on Gab. He was then connected with a fellow white nationalist, going by the alias Stephen Quest, who was recruiting members and leadership within a neo nazi organization called the National Socialist Youth Alliance (NSYA).
Kauffman officially launched S14 in March 2023, when he and others split from the NSYA. Upon starting this new nazi organization, Kauffman, with the help of Sheaffer, instituted new organizational security and logistical guidelines and started recruiting efforts both online and in-person. Kauffman made a serious effort to create a nazi safe space on telegram, shying away from infighting and trying to build camaraderie among members.
He also increased the rate of in-person actions within his tristate area crew encouraging pop-up style protests during the day and night time propaganda dissemination actions.
In addition, Kauffman implemented different security guidelines for the public S14 Telegram chat like not discussing illegal activity, not giving out personal info or personal phone numbers to other group members, no infighting, and no glorification of white nationalists who have committed mass shootings. Kauffman has thus far strictly enforced his group’s code, often banning members for breaking these rules.
Ironically though, Kauffman does not hold himself to the same high standard. Kauffman’s first major mistake was providing a detailed background of his life in public Telegram chats which enabled antifascists to construct a profile on him. This included his time in the military, prior life in New England, veiled details about his day job, and the fact he currently lives in North Philly.
His second major mistake was providing information about the level of his fiance’s involvement and unintentionally revealing his fiance’s identity on the S14 public telegram channel.
At the time, Kauffman likely didn’t think too much about mentioning his fiances legal name, because he was using it to try and recruit more women to his crew. Fascist and white nationalist groups are well known to have an absence of women for a variety of reasons, so leveraging female membership is something that would have been valuable to Kauffman and S14 as a whole.
Unfortunately for him, Kauffman’s revelation is the only reason that antifascists were able to find Sheaffer and confirm her identity. Kauffman took basic steps to erase information about himself on the internet, removing many links that could potentially expose him. This coupled with the fact that he and Sheaffer are not legally married added another layer of removal, functionally creating a situation where Sheaffer would be very difficult to identify without her legal name. Because antifascists had her first name they were eventually able to definitively identify and link Sheaffer to Kauffman and S14.
Other white supremacist activity in the area, the source of which has not been able to be identified until now, can also be ascribed to Sheaffer. A female member of Atlantic Nationalist Club has been trolling Philadelphia area antifascists on Telegram for a period of time throwing up racist stickers across the city.
The individual in the Atlantic Nationalist Club video is a white female wearing an engagement ring who quickly puts up a sticker on a utility poll. Given Sheaffer’s background info and the shooting style of the video, the likelihood of this being anyone but her is incredibly low.
S14 has prided themselves themselves on their anonymity, security culture, and ability to do things anonymously for months from behind the comfort of a mask. That time is now over. Kauffman and Sheaffer must be exposed for the nazis that they are.
Kauffman’s reported most recent employer, AWOC, can be reached at their main offices at 215-219-3579 or through email through their website. The following script and photos from the article can be used to contact AWOC about Kauffman.
“Hello I am a concerned Philadelphia resident and I am calling to inquire about the status of an AWOC employee. Mark Kauffman, an AWOC foreman, is a neo nazi and white supremacist. Kauffman regularly engages in bigoted and even illegal behavior directed towards minorities and marginalized people. I am happy to provide concrete evidence of his actions. If Kauffman is still employed at AWOC, it is not a safe environment for anyone. I request that action be taken immediately through terminating his employment. Thank you for your time.”
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from North American Animal Liberation Press Office
Recently, anonymous aboveground activists conducted research of east coast fur farms, with the purpose of determining operational status and the number of active fur farms in the eastern United States, primarily Pennsylvania and New York.
Of the 18 farms visited, only one farm was confirmed as an active mink farm, the Stahl mink farm in Sunbury PA (4130 SR 890). One fox farm was inconclusive, the Pacuchinski fox farm in upstate NY (2730 Lenox Road). All 16 others have shuttered. We found dilapidated and decayed sheds, and sheds that once confined mink were full of derelict machinery and various tools.
The number of operational U.S. mink farms is now under 100, down from over 400 in the 1990s and 274 just ten years ago. Estimates of active U.S. fox farms put the number between 25 and 50.
Last year, the Animal Liberation Front liberated over 15,000 mink from U.S. fur farms. In recent years, global pressure campaigns have seen nine designers go fur free. This is the grim state of the fur trade.
As the fur industry teeters on the brink of collapse, it’s up to all of us to do what it takes to ensure this industry ne
ver recuperates. Activist efforts and a diversity of tactics can destroy this industry that preys on native wildlife.
Look for the latest updates of closures and active fur farms at finalnail.com.
from Philly Antifa
Last week, a neo-nazi entered the Wooden Shoe Books co-operative bookstore on South Street. He took a photo of a flyer hanging up there related to Paul Minton, the nazi groomer currently running “White Lives Matter PA” and “Embrace Struggle Active Club,” stole some Antifa stickers, and threatened a staff member. Another of Minton’s telegram pages,
“Pa Antifa Watch” posted pictures from the incident, claiming they received them from “someone unknown to us.”
The nazi was driven from the area, but posted a short video of the incident on a closed chat of neo-nazis. In the video, the nazi’s face is visible and easily identifiable as Ben Ryder.
Ryder is a neo-nazi with a history of exposing himself and masturbating in front of women and young girls in public. Ryder was sentenced to 4-12 months in 2015 for approaching several women completely nude in a McDonalds parking lot. He was sentenced to 1-2 years in prison in 2019 for another a similar crime.
As discussed in the twitter thread above, Ryder was one of the neo-nazis who picked a fight at a Trans Day of Vengeance demo at the Supreme Court. Ryder attempted to take out a knife during the fight, but was dropped and disarmed by protestors while DC police meandered over and eventually detained him.
Ryder is a registered sex offender, so he likely feels common cause with Minton and his crew, judging by their enthusiastic cross-promotion. Ryder was last known to be living in Glenside, PA on E. Pleasant Avenue. He may be working for Kevin Ryder, Inc., a trucking company (we presume to be run by a relative) in Ivyland, PA. Ben Ryder drives a black Jeep Grand Cherokee (PA KDK5085).
Ryder is clearly an unstable and dangerous person and those who encounter him should be mindful of that. Despite their attempts to market themselves as an elite vanguard of the “pro-white movement,” Active Club and their supporters continue to tend more towards disgusting and embarrassing cautionary tales.
Eternal war on the Hitler Youth Mickey D’s flasher division,
from Philly Antifa
Atlanta Antifascists recently released an extensive report-back from a months-long infiltration of the “Southern Sons Active Club,” a cell “of the larger ‘Active Club’ network founded by fascist organizer Robert Rundo and his close associates.” As usual, it is S-tier research and reporting by ATL and we recommend reading it, even if you do not live nearby or feel you have a full understanding of the groups involved.
Most members and posters on the SSAC telegram reside in Georgia and the Carolinas, but one user, who posts on telegram as “Kermit (Sapper Actual)” reps Southern Sons while being from and living in Pennsylvania.
In addition to involvement in the openly fascist “Active Club,” Kermit runs the “First Capitol (York, PA) Proud Boys” telegram channel and appears to be running the chapter. Neo-nazi infiltration is well-documented in the proud boys, and many chapters function as essentially front-groups for neo-nazi orgs, while the “civic nationalist” chapters provide deniability and protect them.Kermit is feuding with the Ohio proud boys for being insufficiently openly racist for him.
Thanks to information provided to us by Antifa researchers, and then verified, we are prepared to expose “Kermit (Sapper Actual)” as Mathew David Bair of 138 N. Water St, Spring Grove, PA.
Antifa became aware of Kermit’s real name due to a doxx by his “white brothers” at Runic Storm, who make it a habit of doxxing anyone who doesn’t pay for an order or has issues with payment processing.
Though Bair had ordered under the name “Matthew Howse”, he used an email of MathewBairHxC@gmail.com. Sure enough, some light research confirmed that the address Kermit ordered to belongs to a Mathew Bair, who has been in the news several times for his far-right activities, as well as a run-in with York cops that generated a few moments of local notoriety for him. Interestingly, one of Bair’s friends present that day was named “Matthew Howse,” so we presume Bair used his friend’s name as a “cover,” while using his real-named gmail address.
Bair is 33 years old. He was in the marines but court martialed and discharged for stealing night-vision goggles. “Kermit” actually bragged about his court martial and it’s availability online. He was involved in an altercation with York PD for alleged brutality caught on video. The lawsuit was quickly dropped.
Bair was present at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021 and charged with curfew violation. He has prior guilty pleas for selling weed and harassment.
Bair and his crew have been working along with the NJEHA and WLM nazis we’ve previously profiled on this site, participating in shared days of action and joint demonstrations together. Presumably, the groups are also training together as that is a large part of the “Active Club” model. Recently, Bair posted public support Embrace Struggle Active Club, which is associated with disgraced sexual predator Paul Minton, whom Bair has worked with for some time.
Anyone with more info on Bair or FCPB is welcome to contact us. Bair may be identified by his FCPB’s tattoo on one of his legs.
Eternal War on the Hitler Youth,
