It didn’t take long for antifa to mobilize against the latest outing by the Keystone State ‘Skinheads’ (KSS) and friends and even less time to send them packing. Props go to Philly!
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Oct. 14, 2017 – Alerted by a tip off, antifa from Philadelphia and other areas of the state were able to rout a significantly small group of neo-Nazis who came out for the “Leif Erickson Day Celebration” on Boathouse Row. Antifa were also able to for the first time converge on their after rally event at a park in South Philadelphia, which ended in an altercation that had the neo-Nazis cut their event short.
Each year for the past decade, KSS, which prefers to go by the name Keystone United, would attempt to hold a rally at the statue of the Icelandic explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni, but after 2013, when there was a massive number that turned out to oppose them, they have attempted to conceal the event from the public to avoid such opposition, even holding the rally at night. This year, they attempted to hold an afternoon event once again and were set upon by antifa before they even left their usual staging area at the gazebo in nearby Fairmont Park that overlooks the statue. This marked the first time in four years the neo-Nazis were opposed.
10/14/2017: Tim Wylie, holding the stick and wearing glasses, is followed by Mark Daniel Reardon, checking his phone, and Anthony James (AJ) Olsen, trying to take pics on the far right.
A paltry 24 persons came out to rally this year, but even with the short notice antifa managed to bring out 30 to counter protest. At a nearby pavilion in Fairmont Park, there was a memorial service for a bike messenger that recently passed away, and while no one attending the service participated in the counter demonstration, some speakers shouted out their contempt for the assembled neo-Nazis to cheers.
Those among the neo-Nazis, who came from as far as Albany, NY and Indiana with just a few of them currently living in Philadelphia, were many that have been seen in past years, but new faces included Mark Daniel Reardon, who according to Philly Antifa fled his apartment when community members learned that he had posted fliers around West Philadelphia, looking to recruit for a violent neo-Nazi group called Atomwaffen and model Bryan Christopher Sawyer, who does work for the White Supremacist podcast Red Ice and once lost his job at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts when he videotaped himself harassing a Black woman with racial slurs, posting the video on his Facebook page. KSS associate and convicted felon Tim Wylie also participated in the rally, and on Thursday, he is scheduled to appear in court on weapons charges, including one for providing false information on an application while attempting to purchase a firearm in July 2016. He has participated in a number of rallies and events with KSS in the past, including an anti-refugee rally in the Pennsylvania State House in 2015.
Anthony James (AJ) Olsen
After some time at the gazebo, the rally participants then march down to the statue with antifa in front of them chanting “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA!” and antifa then blocked them from getting near the statue and began either shouting back and forth with the neo-Nazis, or loudly debated them, KSS associate Bob Gaus, who appeared to lead the rally denying that neither he nor anyone he was with was a Nazi, but instead a White Nationalist.
Although according to some information, the plan was supposed to have been to march to the Washington Monument in front of the nearby Philadelphia Art Museum, the presence of antifa might have thwarted those plans, and the assembled retreated back into Fairmont Park to return to their vehicles. It was learned however that they ended up in South Philadelphia at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park for an after party, and antifa followed them there. At some point there was an altercation, at which time the neo-Nazis ended their event and left the park.
One week earlier three times as many antifascists came out to the same statue to claim it and the day from the neo-Nazis that annually hold their event in that location. No neo-Nazis came to oppose or attempt an event last week, although police fortified the statue, which was vandalized with red paint, with barricades and officers guarding it.
What’s so hard about denouncing Nazis? It should be clear that there is no room for equivocation or mincing words. Nazis must be denounced and stopped. How do we reach out to poor white youth who are being recruited into white supremacist groups? What do we say to liberals who want to find a way to de-escalate without calling out the harm done by hate groups? How do you answer the messed up and false equivalency of the violence perpetrated by white supremacists and Nazis to the acts of resistance by Antifa and others who demonstrate solidarity with marginalized communities?
Linda Tirado is a freelance writer and activist who has spoken around the globe about what it’s like to be poor in America. She is the author of Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America. Before she wrote books Tirado was a night cook in rural Utah. Described as having “a way with words that’s both breezy and blunt,” she works to make the lives of America’s working class slightly more tolerable, although she dreams of the day that America wakes up and realizes that there’s no moral distinction between collecting food stamps and writing off business lunches on one’s taxes because either way the taxpayer is feeding people.
[October 19 from 7-9pm at Wooden Shoe Books 704 South St]
Earlier this week, the avenues of West Philadelphia were blanketed with myriad of posters, warning residents of the presence of local neo-Nazi scum Mark Daniel Reardon, and his corny ‘Not a Nazi’ side-kick Jeff Thomas. This past spring, Reardon was driven from his apartment when community members learned that he had posted fliers around University City, looking to recruit for Atomwaffen, a violent neo-Nazi organization. Since then, Reardon has been forced to hide his wretched self away, spending his time re-tweeting Pepe the frog memes and periodically leaving his sad, lonely cave to get food from the Checkers on 43rd and Market.
Thomas resigns himself to attending Trump rallies and infrequently posting stickers and Alt-Right fliers around town. Oh, and getting in Facebook arguments about how he’s “totally not a racist,” despite being at the Unite the Right rally, and working security for known Holocaust denier Augustus Invictus. Pitiful as both Reardon and Thomas are, Charlottesville serves as proof that fascist and white supremacist groups are growing emboldened, and that individuals are becoming more committed to their racist ideologies, and backing them up with violence and terrorism against our communities.
While its easy to spot the bad guys at events, or the dude strolling along the street with a swastika on his arm; what about the Nazis living down your block, or working in your midst? We’re here to remind them that there will be no comfort for them, no community spaces that are accessible, or that feel safe. No individuals will be allowed a platform to exercise racist rhetoric, or recruit for their misguided and genocidal causes.
So keep your eyes open for these scum, skulking around West Philly and beyond, and give us a shout if you should happen across them. Know that while they are undoubtedly grade A tools, take note that we also believe them to be dangerous (as all white supremacists are), so please exercise caution.
This month will mark the 10 year Anniversary of the first time Keystone State Skinheads, aka Keystone United, held their “Leif Erikson Day Celebration” along Kelly Drive in Fairmount Park.
The event, innocuous sounding and followed by a “family-friendly” BBQ, was a big hit among the more “respectable” elements of the Neo-Nazi skinheads scene. It also had the added advantage of being booked during the weekend that the Anti-Racist Action Network’s national conference had been occurring for years, reducing the possibility of militant opposition.
The third year, 2009, Philly was invaded by Neo-Nazis from all over the country including representatives from The Vinlanders Social Club and Volksfront, two crews that had been bitter rivals in the past. This rang an alarm for Anti-Fascists in the region as to the long term damage an event like this could create by giving KSS both a foothold to rally in Philadelphia while also providing an opportunity to resolve conflicts within their movement.
2009 was also the first year when Antifa were there to oppose the Nazis. A handful of Anti-Racists from One People’s Project and associates blocked the Thorfin Karlsefni and heckled the nazis while they gave speeches. They also prevented KSS from laying their wreath. It was symbolic victory, but one that drew a line in the sand and foreshadowed the resistance that was to come.
2010 was an anomaly. The departure of the creator of LED from KSS had thrown them into disarray. A small band of Antifa were in the park but the nazis were no shows. When OPP posted a story about it, local nazis from the Council of Conservative Citizens, including KSS co-founder Steve Smith, threw together a photo op unannounced to save face.
2011, or the “Occupy LED” year, saw an influx of people who came over from the Occupation of City Hall, with Antifa numbering around 40 at their height against a slightly smaller group of KSS.
In 2012 a committed band of Antifa showed up and blocked the statue, heckling the 20 or so boneheads from KSS and Hated Skins that showed up.
2013 was a peak year of resistance to LED, and the final year that KSS was able to attempt to publicly announce their plans to rally in Philly. Mobilizing for weeks in advance, Anti-Fascists from Philly and the surrounding area were able to draw several hundred people to protest. Despite KSS drawing boneheads from as far away as Texas, they were outnumbered 4 or 5 to 1. Jeered and booed the entire day, forced to abandon their traditional march in favor of being walked down to the statue by the hand by Philly PD, it was an embarrassing defeat that KSS is yet to recover from.
Since then, the past three Octobers KSS has kept all details of the event secret, even from many in their own movement. While they have been able to rally in the dead of night for photo ops, the event no longer serves as a recruiting tool, nor is it a feather in the cap of KSS. Instead, it is an obligation to be fulfilled as quickly and quietly as possible, lest people realize that KSS has no public presence in Philadelphia to speak of any more.
We have confirmed that KSS WILL BE HOLDING a LED celebration in Philly at some point in October. Will it be another late night lurk in the shadows or will KSS dare to show their faces in Philly? Time will tell.
Rather than waiting to hear, after the fact, that the Nazis were in Fairmount Park, Anti-Racists in the area are appropriating Leif Erikson Day as a day against White Supremacy, Colonialism and Fascism. Let that be the legacy of this event, which was started to build Neo-Nazi organizing capacity in Philadelphia and has instead built our networks and groups.
Several different organizations in Philly are working together on this, reuniting as the “Philadelphia Residents Against Racism” coalition. We support this initiative and encourage our readers to join us in Faimount Park on October 7th to rally for a free and equal world and proudly claim that Philly is and will remain an Anti-Fascist city.
Here are some of the past organizers and attendees of Leif Erikson Day:
Steve Smith is a longtime Neo-Nazi. He is a former Klansman, co-founder of KSS and Luzerne county republican committeeman.Anthony James (AJ) Olsen – Philadelphia director of Keystone State Skinheads (KSS)Joey Phy, longtime Philly KSS Member and Neo-NaziBob Gaus, Co-Founder of KSS and longtime Neo-Nazi who lives in HarrsiburgJoseph Hoesch, Philly KSS member and co-founder.Matthew Heimbach, Head of Neo-Nazi Traditionalist Worker’s Party, who has spoken at several LED events.Brien James, former head of Vinlanderss Social Club, current head of American GuardRyan Wojitowicz (l) and Jason Honeywell (r), KSS members.
Bryan Vanagaitis, KSS member formerly of Philly now living in Harrisburg area.Ron Sheehy – Sheehy engages in racist trolling online under the username Tremley, attends KSS events and was spotted in Charlottesville at the Unite the Right Rally.
Every October for the past decade often around Columbus Day Weekend, which is also around Oct. 9 – Leif Erickson Day – Keystone State “Skinheads” (aka Keystone United) and their supporters come to Philadelphia, PA to hold what they call their “Leif Erickson Day Celebration” at a Viking Statue ( that’s not of Leif Erickson) on Boathouse Row. Residents have come out to oppose them, most notably in 2013 when the neo-Nazis were overwhelmed by the opposition to their event. Since that year they have done everything they could to avoid the opposition whenever they organize this day. They didn’t have an event in 2014 until they were mocked, and over the past two years haven’t announced publicly or online, and held the event at night when no one is around to see them.
Well just like last year, we intend to come out regardless of their plans and celebrate us as a people. We will gather at the Thorfin Karlsfeni statue on Boathouse Row on Kelly Drive and rally against Racism, Colonialism, and KSS organizing in our city and state.
In the wake of Charlottesville, where several of the Leif Erickson Day Celebration attendees were seen, communities have been working to confront and keep down the activities of neo-Fascist in this society. Philly will be no different. We are calling on all Anti-Racists and Anti-Fascists to join us in confronting KSS & Co. and showing them that they are (still) not welcome in Philadelphia.
[October 7 from 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM at 1 Boathouse Row]
The resurgence of Antifa has placed the problem of fascism front and center for radical politics today. It also raises a key strategic question: if we are to disrupt, dismantle, and transform fascism–to ensure “no platform for fascists”–what is it that makes the Trump regime fascist, and what are its sources and mechanisms? Discussions on the left surrounding these issues have often been limited. They tend to focus on governmental or state fascism, endlessly comparing and contrasting past fascist governments and the current, American one. In doing so they miss a broader socio-political fascism: the Trump regime is one expression of a diffuse fascistic desire for violent domination as well as of the fascistic social structures in which that desire is generated and cultivated.
The task of Antifa must be to challenge not only narrower, governmental fascism but also its broader social roots. This project entails standing in radical, active solidarity with struggles against white supremacy, misogyny, anti-worker class warfare, transphobia, xenophobia, and beyond, as one node in a broad-based, radical left struggle. In this post, we sketch the need for such a popular-front Antifa.
Some Limits to How We Are Talking about Fascism
Discussions about the term “fascism” raging on the left since the Trump campaign have often been deeply limiting. They tend to be obsessed with a fairly narrow understanding of fascism as a phenomenon of state, which they explore by comparing and contrasting 21st century America and 20th century fascist governments. Such analysis certainly has value, particularly in raising the alarm, but leaves us with a seemingly endless debate. Many argue that we can and should unequivocally call the administration fascist given its white supremacist and nationalist policies, cultivation of white supremacist violence, demonization of immigrants, attacks on the media, and so on. But as others point out, certain hallmarks of past fascist states are missing, like a wholesale attack on individualism. Others chart a middle path: “No, but …” Across the debate we find a dizzying array of new terms: Trump is a “proto-fascist,” “neo-fascist,” or maybe an “ur-fascist.”
This endless battle misses history. It presents “fascism” as though it were a fixed set of characteristics, failing to ask: how might fascism, like a virus, become “resistant,” taking on new forms and strategies that allow it to survive in changed contexts? Moreover, when we assume that fascism is solely a function of who is in charge of a country’s political machinery, we come to see Antifa, in turn, as a highly specialized struggle, implicitly rejecting any deep connection between Antifa and the vast array of other social struggles with which it might create a mass radical project. We thereby also ignore the much wider, fascistic base on which Trump builds. To combat the limits of this discussion, we must shift our gaze.
Fascistic Desire and a Popular-Front Antifa
Beyond the left’s endless debates, we should recognize that the Trump regime’s ambiguous state fascism embodies a much broader desire to violently dominate humans and nature that is diffused throughout American society. State fascists cannot rise to power without mobilizing and constantly reproducing this desire, but the latter can and does assume both explicit and implicit forms, within and outside the machinery of state. The desire for domination is generated in structures that have always organized life in American society: imperialism; militarization; local and state police; misogyny; the construction of masculinity as authoritarian violence; white supremacy; American nationalism’s constant refrains of exceptionalism; and many more. The capitalist order, inherently authoritarian, provides the framework in which all these develop: it seeks to capture every part of society and every moment of life for a brutal competition in which a few heroes will rise to rule over the unwashed masses.
Such structures organize the violent domination and eradication of human and non-human life, constituting socio-political fascism. When we call them, and the desire for domination that they nurture, “fascistic,” we point out that they make state fascism possible. At the same time, the term highlights the fact that state fascism is a symptom of a much broader problem that must not be reduced to an issue of who runs the government. A fascist state is the reflex of an obscene social order trying to defend itself against the threat posed by a dominated populace.
From this shifted perspective, we do not need to endlessly debate just how fully Trump fits into a fixed definition of fascism derived from the past. Instead, if we recognize the Trump regime as emerging out of the convergence of particular fascistic tendencies at a given time and in a given place, we can see that its ambiguously fascist form is tailored to the American context and sensibilities, accommodating itself, for instance, to American individualism by forgoing appeals to mass unity. Whether Trump is a “proper” fascist–whether he fits into a rigid definition taken from the past–matters much less than that he is opposed as the governmental voice of a pervasive fascistic violence.
Nor do we have to see Antifa as a specialized, narrow struggle against a particular regime. Antifa can see its work as inseparable from all those that struggle against fascistic desire in the diverse, irreducible forms that make an obscenity like Trump possible: against white supremacy, misogyny, transphobia, anti-worker class warfare, and beyond.
Pursuing its task–”no platform for fascists”–Antifa would then attack socio-political fascism in all its many forms.It would stand in radical solidarity with, and constantly learn from, a vast array of left social struggles–and so aim to be one part of an intersectional, popular-front Antifa.
As long as there has been fascism, there has been anti-fascism — also known as “antifa.” Born out of resistance to Mussolini and Hitler in Europe during the 1920s and ’30s, the antifa movement has suddenly burst into the headlines amidst opposition to the Trump administration and the alt-right. They could be seen in news reports, clad all in black with balaclavas covering their faces, fighting police at the presidential inauguration, and on California college campuses protesting right-wing speakers …
Simply, antifa aims to deny fascists the opportunity to promote their oppressive politics — by any means necessary. Critics say shutting down political adversaries is anti-democratic; antifa adherents argue that the horrors of fascism must never be allowed the slightest chance to triumph again.
In a smart and gripping investigation, historian and former Occupy Wall Street organizer Mark Bray provides a one-of-a-kind look inside the movement, including a detailed survey of its history from its origins to the present day — the first transnational history of postwar anti-fascism in English. Based on interviews with anti-fascists from around the world, Antifa details the tactics of the movement and the philosophy behind it, offering insight into the growing but little understood resistance fighting back against the alt-right.
[September 16th from 7PM to 9PM at Wooden Shoe Books 704 South St]
PA Alt-Knights At Unite the Right providing security for Augustus Invictus (center with tie)PA Alt Knights 2nd in Command Jeff Thomas discussing providing security for eugenics promoting, holocaust denying, fascist politician Augustus Invictus. Apparently participating in a Nazi rally that ended in a murder was “a pleasure.”
As our readers are no doubt aware, this “Unite the Right Rally” was a disaster for the Alt-Right and led to the death of Anti-Racist demonstrator Heather Heyer as well as multiple hate crimes and assaults by Neo-Nazi and Far Right rally participants. In the fallout, many of the rallies participants and organizers have turned on each other and/or distanced themselves from the Alt-Right.
One group that seems to have very few regrets is the PA Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights (FOAK). Their members were observed by Anti-Fascists on the ground in Charlottesville, and confirmed through social media, providing security for Augustus Invictus (real name Austin Gillespie), Florida Senate Candidate, and total fucking cretin. Invictus was formerly a member of the Libertarian party, but even a party comprised almost entirely of Fedoras could not stomach Invictus’ Holocaust denial, advocacy of Eugenics, use of Fascist and White Nationalist talking points and imagery, and participation in animal sacrifice. This led to several conflicts within the party that ended with Invictus switching his affiliation to The GOP.
Most of these “Kekistanis” were spotted a few months ago trolling the Refuse Fascism rally at Dilworth Plaza. While these jerkoffs might seem like harmless fools, the murder of Heather Heyer goes to show just how dangerous and unstable the pathetic types attracted to the Alt-Right can be, and those that protect and enable them will not be spared their share of the blame.
We’re sure that the FOAK will describe this as “guilt by association,” a legal term appropriated by Nazi sympathizers to deflect and distract from criticisms. Guilt by association is supposed to be in reference to criminal charge having no evidence other than “this guy knew that guy.” It’s not intended to excuse actual behavior, like attending rallies or defending Fascists, nor to insulate someone from the social consequences of doing so. Why exactly shouldn’t someone feel guilty or be judged by others for rallying and defending Neo-Nazis and Klansmen? That’s rhetorical, FOAK.
Spotted at the Unite the Right Rally:
Ellsworth George Lewis III
Ellsworth George Lewis III,, head of PA Alt-Knights, at Unite the RightEllsworth George Lewis III at Trump’s Inauguration
Despite claiming on social media that he would not be attending at one point, Ellsworth George Lewis was indeed present at UTR.
In a video posted by Youtube user “Khaos Kekmander Khrone” Ellsworth can be seen milling around nervously in a Bloodsport T-shirt. I guess because he’s a tough underground martial artist (lol)?
Ellsworth works at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, PA. Taylor (part of the Crozer Keystone Health System) continues to employ Ellsworth despite his continued association with White Nationalist, Far Right and Neo-Nazi individuals and groups. Contact their public relations department (link above) and let them know how the public feels about that decision. He lives in Prospect Park, PA on Lincoln Ave.
Jeff Thomas
Jeff Thomas at Unite the Right
Present with Ellsworth was his “second in command” Jeff Thomas.
Jeff Thomas
Jeff Thomas, was last seen in Philly repeating “I’m not a nazi” over and over while hanging with “Illegal Aryan” and American Vanguard member Daniel Reardon, who was also in Charlottesville.
Apparently hanging with Nazis suited Jeff Thomas fine because he was up to his neck in them at UTR.
In this video (at around 16 min) you can see he even has a brief moment of clarity and weakly comments that the guy carrying a swastika flag is “making them look bad.” No shit, Jeff. Racism and Fascism is a bad look.
Despite this comment, Jeff seemed to have no desire to exercise his first amendment rights to take a vocal stand against Nazism while surrounded by Nazis. How strange, since they love free debate and expression. Was he fearing for his safety should he object to open Nazism being the face of the rally he was attending? Certainly his associates are not violent individuals like the “evil Antifa” he’s so scared of, so one can only assume his only issue with Nazis was that they were making him “look bad,” and it wasn’t worth it to him to argue.
So this guy will plan and recruit to troll Communists, but can’t be bothered to loudly state opposition to Nazism when it’s right in front of him, despite his claims that he views them both as “collectivism.” Cowardliness, thy name is Jeff Thomas.
After UTR, Thomas took to social media for damage control, again denying any wrongdoing and reaffirming his belief that the greatest fight he could be undertaking at this historical moment is to protect the Free Speech rights of Neo-Nazis.
In a rather hilarious thread on his FB page, Thomas makes the following claim:
What came out in the thread was ample evidence of his ties and sympathies for Nazism/Racism/Bigotry.
He refuses to answer this person’s question outright:
Good question, Jeff
He then goes on to claim that Augustus Invictus is a “great friend” who is “not afraid to debate”
Invictus is then tagged in on the thread by a friend of Thomas’ and shows off his excellent debating skills when one of the commentators literally quotes his own Holocaust denial.
See, at this point in a conversation where someone is accusing you of denying the Holocaust most people would probably just affirm that the Holocaust happened. But Austin Gillespie is too great a debater for such an easy route. Instead, he invokes the supreme debate strategy of “people who think different things than me, their opinions don’t matter.”
But if a regular old racist, sexist, holocaust-denying capitalist isn’t proof positive enough, leave it to New Jersey Neo- Nazi Frank Marlowe (check out the public content for plenty of evidence of Marlow’s nazi views) to bomb into the thread to recommend to Jeff that he just lean into it and become a Fascist:
But how do we even know Marlow is a Fasc-
Nvm
It really is a hilarious thread we recommend reading for as long as he keeps it public. Just keep in mind Thomas is friends with many far right and White Nationalist figures who may be monitoring the thread so use good security should you decide to comment.
Thomas launches the same old “who, me?” routine while well-meaning friends try and talk sense into him about what it means to participate in a movement regardless of your alleged actual principles. We get it Jeff: you don’t think people should have to share. What we don’t understand is why you think that is a greater principle than human equality or freedom.
Seems as though Thomas is too much of a narcissist to really self-examine his role in helping create the circumstances in which Heather Heyer died. Even if he did nothing else, had attended no rallies earlier, had not helped organize and recruit for FOAK, insulated Nazis like Daniel Reardon from Anti-Fascists, etc. and ONLY provided security for Invictus, consider this Jeff: what if the speakers had been unable to get security and been forced to cancel UTR before it began? Heather Heyer would be alive today.
Movements are the sum of individuals. Everyone that participates, whoever minor, shares some portion of the credit/blame. Throwing up your hands, pointing fingers, or hiding behind the constitution will not wash the blood off your hands.
Deborah Nemeth
Deb Nemeth at Unite the Right
Another “not Nazi” attending the largest Nazi rally in the U.S. on decades was Deborah Nemeth.
Nemeth arrived with the Kekistanis but was seperated and can be seen in this picture leaving Emancipation Park in between the Traditionalist Worker’s Party and Hammerskins contingents, both open Neo-Nazi groups, and shortly before the group of Klansmen that included Richard Preston, who was arrested for firing a gun towards protesters.
Nemeth has shown no remorse or signs of leaving the movement since UTR. She’s all over the thread on Jeff Thomas’ page mentioned above “liking” all the right wing and apologist posts and arguing with anyone expressing disgust at their involvement in the largest Neo-Nazi rally in this country in decades.
We would like to encourage our readers to contact Nemeth’s employers and let them know that their employee is a willing participant in White Nationalist and Neo-Nazi movements and to ask them to fire her immediately.
Justin and Colin Emerle
Justin Emerle at Unite the RightColin Emerle at UTRJustin Emerle trying to blend into the Refuse Fascism rally but after Antifa started filming him he bounced.
Justin Emerle, aka “Hipster Douche Fascist” briefly attempted to infiltrate the Refuse Fascism crowd a few months back at their rally but dipped out as soon as Antifa began shadowing him around Dilworth. At the time he claimed to be “wasn’t with them” (meaning the Alt-Knights) and was just “checking things out.”
The Emerle brothers sometimes perform as the band Echo Orbiter in the Philly area, though have been on various periods of inactivity the past few years.
Justin and Colin Emerle in an older pic. Note the matching skull tattoo on Justin’s left wrist. Also the fact that these guys are aging hipster douchebags.Emerele and Lewis discussing Charlottesville. Guess Lewis decided to go after all.
Justin Emerele is even less remorseful than Jeff Thomas, preferring to argue online about semantics or his being offended at being called racist than address the fact that he was rallying with Nazis and Klan, which btw is a pretty fucking racist thing to do. He is repping Augustus Invictus’ website The Revolutionary Conservative as his FB profile photo.
Eh… no thanks.
Justin Emerle is listed as living on New Street in Westville, NJ.
This is our first time spotting Colin at a far right event, but that’s likely because we didn’t know to look for them, or they were hiding out, possibly as a scout.
This Nazi Kid
Nazi kid at UTR
This Nazi Kid was also trolling at the Refuse Fascism rally. Despite adamantly pointing out that he “wasn’t white” (his mother, who appeared to be South Asian, was waiting for him nearby) this little guy claimed to support the Traditionalist Worker’s Party and claimed “Hitler did nothing wrong.”
Despite his not-so-aryan heritage, This Nazi Kid was welcomed into the Neo-Nazi contingent of UTR, marching along in a white polo shirt along with Vanguard America, the Neo-Nazi group that the murderer of Heather Heyer was also marching with.
Commando Barbie Alt-Knight
This guy was with the PA Alt-Knights contingent and seemingly very eager to fight Antifa from behind police barricades but demurred from actually backing any of it up. Anyone with information regarding this winner or any of the scum who went to UTR should send it our way.
—
Let’s pretend for a second we believe that PA FOAK really believe that they are not racists or fascists. Excuse the unappetizing metaphor, but essentially what Ellsworth Lewis, Jeff Thomas and the rest of PA FOAK are doing is smearing shit on themselves, and then when someone complains about the smell, saying “But we don’t have any body odor! It’s not US, it’s the SHIT that smells!”
It’s not any less disgusting and doesn’t mean you’re entitled to keep your jobs, friends, be served by local businesses, or be free of people pointing out that you smell like shit. Free association cuts both ways you fake-ass “libertarians.”
We have every intention to hold PA FOAK and every other group/individual who attended UTR on the Fascist side accountable.
Some more pics of the PA FOAK crew at UTR:
Love and Solidarity to all Anti-Racists injured in Charlottesville, the family and friends of Heather Heyer, and all those taking a stand against the Fascists and their allies. Rage to our enemies.
Neo-Nazi record label and distro house Micetrap Records is closing up shop, according to it’s owner.
For over 20 years, Micetrap Records has been distributing Neo-Nazi, White Nationalist, Neo-Confederate and other Fascist music, writings and clothing using a P.O. box in Maple Shade, N.J..
Micetrap was (to the best of our knowledge) a one-man operation for it’s entire run. Stephen Wiegand of Cherry Hill, NJ would distribute bands such as Skrewdriver and Bound for Glory as well as old issues of National Vanguard magazines and writings by Nazi Terrorist David Lane. Basically all manner of Fascist paraphernalia.
Despite the immeasurable damage done by Weigand over the years, he flew under the radar for much of his career due to his insistence that he was no ideologically motivated, his willingness to make ridiculous legal threats when he was exposed and other more pressing concerns demanding the time and energy of Anti-Racists and Anti-Fascists in the area.
This changed a few years ago with Antifa Philadelphia exposed Wiegand’s home address and description of his cars and posted them on our site. This eventually led to Weigand’s lawyers threatening WordPress and them caving into pressure and shutting down our old blog. We rebounded nicely, though, launching on noblogs and then eventually our own current site and keeping the Wiegand info up the entire time.
So in the wake of Charlottesville, with a huge upsurge in Anti-Fascist sentiment among people in the U.S., and his info already being made public by Antifa, and Philly Inquirer reporters showing up at his doorstep, Wiegand (allegedly) decided to call it quits.
From a statement on the Micetrap site:
“8/20/2017 – Micetrap Distribution will be soon closing down.
After many years of struggling to figure out the best way to shut down this business, it is with a very heavy heart that I have decided that the time has now come for Micetrap Distribution LLC. to close.
I am proud to say that I built this business from practically nothing and formed a company that I believed stood for everything our 1st Amendment was established for. But in doing this, I have endured personal issues and sacrifices that very few would have been strong enough to endure. But, I can no longer continue on with the passion and enthusiasm that made the business the success that it became. I have always been attacked from all sides of the spectrum and this is not a retreat or surrender, instead it is my attempt at finding my own self peace again. When my business is gone, the violence will still continue between the left and the right, but I will know in my heart that I am not associated with it in any way. I am going out on my own terms while sales are increasing at a rapid pace, simply to pursue a happier, less stressful life that also spares my friends and the neighborhood I love.
After the recent issues in Charlottesville, Virginia, it has forced me to take a long, deep look into myself. And after speaking with friends and neighbors, I can no longer be aligned with the violence (from all sides) that I have always been against.
I will continue processing all orders as I am going through the closing down process. No customers need to worry, if you are able to place an order, it will be completed. But once the shutting down process is complete, I will be completely taking down all websites and domains. I have already removed all social media pages and the streaming radio website. I don’t have any idea where the inventory will go or what will happen with the countless domain names, but over the 20 years, I feel I have done everything possible to fight for the freedom of speech that means everything to me. But now it’s time for me to focus on my own spiritual peace.
I pray that this country I love with all of my heart can heal it’s divides.”
It is worth noting the Wiegand is still taking orders of his repulsive merchandise, despite claiming to have had some vague change of heart. Wiegand also parrots the ridiculous assertions by Donald Trump that Neo-Nazi demonstrators and Anti-Racists in Charlottesville were somehow morally equivalent.
We have no intention of removing Wiegand’s information from our site as it stands. Wiegand is running or involved in running several “Anti-Antifa” blogs and SM accounts that have engaged in doxxing of real or presumed Antifa and has not engaged in any of the behaviors we would classify as evidence of a legitimate change of heart. Stephen Wiegand has been nothing if not duplicitous for the entirety that he’s been around WP scenes. There is no guarantee that this is a legitimate shutdown or that it will last.
For the moment though, we celebrate what seems like a victory in one of our longest running campaigns and recommit ourselves to go harder to ensure that no one can operate a business like Micetrap for 20 years with nearly no consequences and total anonymity.
Eternal War on the Hitler Youth and their Shitty Record Salesmen…
An amazing friend and accomplice Sophia was beaten by police at an Alt-Right Counter Rally in Seattle the day after Charlotesville. Most of y’all knew her when she lived in Philly, but now she goes to school in Seattle.
At the counter-rally, she was hospitalized and had to get a ct scan and stitches in her head. We are trying to raise money for her to cover her hospital bills (copay for insurance, and any healing requirements). We are looking for bands willing to play a set for her! if you are interested, please message us, or comment!
Door fee will be sliding scale, if you can do 5-10 bucks, that’d be great, if you can’t donate, no one will be turned away.
Here is her statement:
“Hey y’all I just wanted to let everyone know that I am doing okay. Yesterday I had to go to the hospital after being hit in the head multiple times with a wooden baton. I had to have lacerations in my scalp stitched up and get a ct scan. All results came back clear with no internal bleeding or skull fracture. I am still on watch for any vision, neck and nerve problems that might occur from blunt force to the head. I am so thankful that I currently have health insurance and all of my medical expenses besides a co-pay are covered. Thank you to so many of you who reached out about helping with medical expenses. I encourage you to donate funds to folks effected in Charlottesville. My injury resulted from police protecting white supremacists. They are reporting no injuries even though many folks were attacked with chemical weapons, flash bangs, and blunt force. The police do not exist for protection. They exist to uphold oppression, white supremacy, capitalist interests and will use any means necessary to do so. This injury will not keep me off the streets and I will continue to fight. I am just so thankful that injuries were not worse.” please to not share for protection, but you can copy/paste if you would like”
[August 24 from 8PM to 10PM at LAVA Space 4134 Lancaster Ave]
We’ve written about Ellsworth George Lewis on the site before, but we’ve learned he was recently appointed as the leader of the Pennsylvania Alt-Knights.
In response, Anti-Fascists around the state and region are launching a push to get Lewis fired from his job at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, PA.
Take a few minutes and call the hospital at (610) 595-6000 and let them know what you think about them employing racist misogynists like Ellsworth George Lewis.
Here’s a good example of what might want to say when you call.
Hello,
You are currently employing Ellsworth George Lewis III, who was recently appointed to be the Pennsylvania Commander and State Point of Contact of the Pennsylvania Alt-Knights. Alt-Knights are a group of alt-right fighting squads and has been featured in Hate Watch by The Southern Poverty Law Center.
Lewis has been in the news several times in the last few months for his involvement with the “Kekistani Movement,” which has involved Lewis carrying a modified version of a Nazi battle flag around the country and participating in various far right and fascist rallies while looking for confrontation with protesters. The “Kek” flag also has added elements from 3%er militia groups and Ku Klax Klan imagery. Lewis intends to be in Charlottesville this coming weekend to participate in the “Unite the Right” rally being organized by Neo-Nazi and other far right groups including the National Socialist Movement and American Vanguard. Lewis’ activities should be cause of grave concern for you and represent a threat to your staff and patients, and do to his recent move to a leadership position within the Alt-Knights I would like to see him terminated immediately.
Lewis announcing his leadership of Alt-Knights
Ellsworth George Lewis III with Kek Flag at InaugurationEllsworth (left) with other PA Alt Knights demonstrating against an Anti-Trump rally in Philadelphia. Lewis is speaking with Daniel Reardon, aka “Illegal Aryan,” the Neo-Nazi who has been posting vile racist flyers in West Philly.
