Statement on Marconi Plaza Attacks

  • June 15, 2020 9:38 am

from Lilac Philly

Contact: Lilac Media/Press Team

Dozens of police officers watch as racist crowd terrorizes a dozen activists, make no arrests of violent vigilantes

Philadelphia, Pa. — At approximately 9 p.m. Sunday night, a group of white vigilantes cornered over a dozen peaceful observers and activists after many hours of threats of physical and sexual violence from an angry mob, at the Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza. The vigilantes, claiming to defend the statue, hurled lit cigarettes and pushed peaceful observers into busy traffic at the intersection of Broad and Oregon. At least three people were pepper sprayed from within the crowd. Two activists were seriously injured and sent to the hospital.

Amanda M–, Michael C–, and David P– were among those who were shoved into open traffic as the largely white crowd chanted racist epithets and made countless threats of more physical and sexual violence. One activist was shoved to the ground, and the mob started to kick them repeatedly until others helped them to safety. A LILAC activist of color, Ronald J–, 24, tried to break off the assault and was maced and punched in the face, resulting in a broken nose.

At no point did the nearly 40 police officers present intervene to prevent this mob violence. Video footage shows peaceful activists asking for aid and intervention and senior Philadelphia Police Department officers ignoring them.

The Marconi Plaza attack is the latest string of racially-motivated escalations orchestrated by white vigilante mobs in the Philly area in the past 15 days. In Fishtown and in South Philadelphia, unaccountable vigilantes have participated in assaults on journalists, property destruction, and uncurbed violence toward peaceful counter-protestors and bystanders. At a time of national reckoning with racial injustice and the use of excessive force by the police, Philly white vigilantes are using violence to defend racist monuments and terrorize residents from all walks of life. The Philadelphia police have proven over the last few weeks that they not only have no interest in protecting Philadelphians from these violent mobs, but will also aid and abet them whenever possible.

Though a constant and heavy presence at Marconi Plaza, the police took almost no action to stop or prevent beatings, at times agitating the peaceful crowd and laughing about the rampage. The only arrest made by the police was against a peaceful protestor staging a sit-in. This is unacceptable behavior from law enforcement, who are directly contradicting Mayor Jim Kenney and Police Chief Danielle Outlaw’s promises that the Philadelphia Police Department would protect First Amendment rights to protest and report.

We hereby denounce this terror campaign in multiracial, ethnically-diverse immigrant communities of Black, Latinx, Asian and Pacific Islander Philadelphians. We deserve to feel safe in our neighborhoods. South Philly belongs to all of us, and everyone has the right to contest Christopher Columbus’s part in the genocide of Indigenous people.

John Alice, Racist Vigilante Responsible for Attacking Journalist

  • June 15, 2020 9:36 am

from Twitter


An @UR_Ninja reporter was attacked tonight in Philadelphia by a vigilante gang armed with baseball bats. The attack was initiated by John Alice, owner of JA Painting and Remodeling, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who struck the reporter’s bike with a metal bat.

He’s been spending his days boarding up local businesses, and apparently leading attacks on reporters at night.

Curiously, he doesn’t seem to be connected to any organized hate groups. This is just white reactionary violence spilling up. John does, however, have police connections. His brother, Michael, was an officer with the Philly PD.

In 2017, Michael Alice was one of several officers sued for police brutality. casetext.com/case/miller-v-a…

Like 40% of police, Michael Alice also has a history of family violence. In 2015, he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend. inquirer.com/philly/news/201…

You can see video of how the altercation begins here. “You’re so scared,” John Alice says, as the reporter is surrounded by an armed gang.
[Video Here]

The reporter asks about Columbus’ genocide of indigenous people. “They were fucking savages back then,” answers one of the posse.

One member of the group then hits the reporter and takes the reporter’s bike, as another slashes the bike’s tires.

This is white reactionary violence. This is a posse, a mob, and the hate group they’re connected to is the Philadelphia Police. Rather than contain the mob, the then cops threatened @UR_Ninja‘s reporter with arrest if he didn’t leave.

Philadelphia PD were also filmed by @UR_Ninja shaking hands with some of the white vigilante mob.

The cops in Philadelphia are using paramilitary gangs of white vigilantes, shaking their hands, and threatening to arrest the reporters they attack in violation of the 1st Amendment. Don’t give me bullshit about reforming the police. Defund and abolish the police. ❤️????✊

If you would like to donate to @UR_Ninja–possibly to fund new bike tires– please consider making a monthly donation here. I’m a monthly donor, and very proud to support independent journalism. unicornriot.ninja/donate/

Philadelphia Police Threaten Unicorn Riot Reporter After Vigilante Assault

  • June 15, 2020 8:58 am

from Unicorn Riot

By Dan Feidt, Unicorn Riot June 14, 2020

Philadelphia, PA – On Saturday evening dozens of armed vigilantes gathered in Marconi Plaza in South Philadelphia near a Christopher Columbus statue, ostensibly to “protect it” from vandalism. Several of the men assaulted our reporter on the scene and slashed his bike tires. Philadelphia police then threatened our reporter with arrest for “inciting a riot.”

[Video Here]

This video is the raw compilation of all of our available footage from the event.

Last Wednesday Unicorn Riot covered the toppling of a Columbus statue outside the Minnesota State Capitol, which came down during a wave of protests that have taken aim at symbols of reactionary politics and white supremacist iconography. A mural of controversial former Mayor and Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo was painted over a week ago not far from the site of tonight’s attack.

In recent weeks armed mobs of white men have gathered in Philly, a city with a long history of reactionary politics and racial tension. A similar armed group in Fishtown attracted international media attention.

At the Saturday evening gathering, the attendees appeared to be eager for a confrontation, waiting to attack anyone who might criticize or damage the statue. Some members of the group were openly carrying firearms and bats with others commenting that they had concealed carry firearms.  At least one of the men holding a gun appeared to have a military-style patch which read “Semper Tyranus,” potentially in reference to John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Captain Louis Campione of the Philadelphia Police Department barred our reporter, Chris Schiano, from continuing to report on scene, claiming that Chris was “inciting a riot“.

In 2016 the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Capt. Louis Campione signed a memo instructing officers to perform unconstitutional searches. Minutes before Unicorn Riot was forced from the scene by Campione, the crowd cheered as a man unveiled a Trump 2020 flag.

After our reporter was forced from the scene, the crowd continued to grow as night fell in the poorly illuminated city park on Broad Street. Earlier in the day Unicorn Riot covered the massive protest march in the city calling to “Defund the Police” attended by thousands of people – view our thread of pics and video from that march below.

[Twitter thread]

Racist Vigilantes Gather to Defend Columbus Statue

  • June 14, 2020 12:50 am

From Twitter

Racist vigilantes gathering with bats and guns at the statue of Christopher Columbus at Columbus Square in South Philadelphia, some of them just assaulted our reporter
 
Several guns, bats and sticks carried by white vigilantes here at Columbus square in South Philly to “protect” the Columbus statue. Police have been visibly quite friendly with this group

 
This man in first photo is who initiated the group assault on our reporter – he noticed he was being filmed and instantly bee-lined for us to demand we stop filming him. As he left, police passively watched him strike our reporter’s bike with a metal bat.
 

About 100 almost exclusively white vigilantes our by Columbus Statue at Marconi Plaza in Sourh Philly. When police arrived after we were assaulted, one cop accused us of instigating the crowd.

 

This man by the Columbus statue at Marconi Plaza is armed with some kind of rifle

The crowd of aggravated South Philly Italian Columbus statue defenders applaud and cheers for the police as some officers leave the area
 
More agitated white men with bats and sticks are continuing to arrive at Marconi Plaza outside the Columbus statue. Philly Police faced some backlash recently after they appeared to tolerate and endorse similar activity in Fishtown on the north end of the city recently.
 
South Philly Columbus statue enthusiasts got very upset once again when police told them they aren’t allowed to physically stop us from filming them
 
Most of the all-white crowd at Marconi Plaza now seems mostly interested in confronting our lone reporter on the scene. Many invitations have been given to engage in hand-to-hand combat. As journalists we are obliged to decline!
 
We are no longer able to document the ongoing, escalating Marconi Plaza South Philadelphia vigilante incident after @PhillyPolice ordered us to leave or be arrested. We were told we no longer had the right to document this event.
 
Before incidents shown in this thread, we spoke w some ‘statue defenders’ about why they were there. Many said the statue represented Italian heritage. Some justified Columbus’ rape and slavery etc by saying “the natives were savages”. Others denied these atrocities took place.
 
Many people present at the statue who confronted our reporter accused him of being from out of town/not from South Philly and of being racist against Italian people. Ironically, our Philly reporter Chris Schiano lives in South Philadelphia and comes from an Italian family.
 
Shortly before @PhillyPolice ordered us to cease our on-site reporting under threat of arrest, the crowd was cheering as a man with a Trump 2020 flag arrived. Police were also shaking hands with some of the white vigilantes as this was happening.
 
Going back over our footage and stills of this incident – we observed at least 2-3 open carried long rifles, and overheard that many present were concealed carrying. Some showed up with improvised weapons, like this man who was standing alone with a golf club.
 

Flatten The Curves

  • April 25, 2020 12:28 am

Submission

Did you know that school is mandatory in the United States of America? wtf right? School here has a really nasty history if you think colonialism totally sucks. That’s why two school police cars got their tires slashed and their windows scratched. Also an under construction condo had its windows scratched up and a doorbell camera was scratched up too. If you don’t have super sharp claws you can use a drill bit, compass, piece of flint, tungsten pen, or sandpaper to scratch glass and plastic. It’s more quiet than rocks and hammers.

Bingo Bandits

Anarchic Black Radicalism w/ RAM Philly & Afrofuturists Abolitionists of the Americas

  • April 19, 2020 1:16 am

from Solecast

[Listen Here]

In today’s episode of the Solecast we have an in-depth discussion of anarchic black radicalism with comrades from Ram Philly & Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas. Anarchic Black Radicalism draws on the history of Black Panthers, early abolitionists, Black Nationalism/Liberation Movements and more to synthesize a distinct form of black anarchism. We talk about how recent social movements have radicalized a new generation of black youth and how anarchist ideas have gained traction in their wake. We talk about the importance of centering trans and disabled people and what steps people of color can take to build their own spaces for organizing that aren’t centered around white activists. We go over about some of the theoretical bases that form their analysis and some of the writers and texts that have informed this direction.

For more information follow Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas  or Ram Philly .

Music “Pass Dat” by Sima Lee

Some texts discussed:

Combahe River Collective 

Anarchy of Colored Girls Assembled a Riotous Manner

Between Infoshops and Insurrection 

The Writings of Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin

Solecast w/ Zoe Samudzi As Black As Resistance

Rail Sabotage in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en and Land Defenders

  • February 24, 2020 10:59 pm

Submission

This week we used copper wire to disrupt rail traffic on two different tracks here in occupied Lenapehoking. Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en nation, and all those blockading and sabotaging the economy and the state.

They are trying to extinguish our spirits. Keep a strong heart. Keep your heart burning bright. Reconciliation is dead, insurgency is alive!

Anarchy Afternoons: Unistʼotʼen Camp

  • February 18, 2020 6:13 pm

from Facebook

During this week’s open hours, we are going to be watching short films about the Unistʼotʼen Camp.

To our north, this month has witnessed an explosion of actions intended to “shut down Canada” with blockades of rail lines cancelling passenger service trains across the country and paralyzing freight shipment. In the cities, protests have blocked streets, highways, and bridges. The present wave of resistance can be traced to the Unistʼotʼen camp’s decade-long battle against proposed pipelines in unceded Wetʼsuwetʼen territory. We will watch films and discuss this history to get a clearer picture of what has been happening.

For more information on recent events: https://itsgoingdown.org/from-sea-to-sea-train-blockades-colonialism-and-canadian-rail-history/

3:00 open hours
4:00 films

[February 21 3-6pm at A-Space 4722 Baltimore Ave]

Second RAM-Philly Reading Group

  • February 7, 2020 2:33 pm

from Twitter

RAM-Philly will be hosting our second reading group on Sday, March 1st at 6pm! We will be reading chapter 7 “Liberation” of “Our History is Our Future” by Nick Estes. Please email us for information!
[email: ramphilly@protonmail.com]un

Tagging spree

  • November 30, 2019 5:14 pm

Submission

We went on a hella tagging spree tonight in preparation for Black Friday. Started at broad and walnut and got all the way up to broad and diamond with 2 cans of paint and a white paint marker. Hit the armed forces recruiting center, a Bank of America, some construction equipment, properties currently being developed, 24 indiego bike tires slashed, and a lot learned and there was much joy taken in simple acts of rebellion. Fuck this colonial holiday, super fuck Black Friday, fuck those who would have us feel shame around mental illness and lack of perceived productivity under this coercive capitalist structure, when the real people who deserve to feel shame are those bulldozing and developing land that used to be wild and beautiful, banks that collaborate with ICE, and fucking army recruiters!
Signed, with all the love in our hearts-

Prison abolitionist queers who will never stop disrupting. Stay sexy, Stay violent, Stay unpredictable

A Discussion on the Growth of Black & Anti-Colonial Anarchist Formations

  • November 6, 2019 12:17 am

from It’s Going Down

[Listen here]

In this episode we were lucky enough to speak with two people on the growth of Black, New Afrikan, and anti-colonial anarchist formations. One of the people joining us in the discussion is a part of the Philadelphia chapter of the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement and the other person is from the Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas.

Our discussion covers a lot of ground, but we speak heavily on a workshop that the comrades are presenting across the so-called US on black anarchism, the recent theoretical Anarkata statement, as well as everything from anti-police and prison abolition organizing, to the impact of the Ferguson rebellion, survival programs, and much more.

One of the themes that came up several times, is finding “little a” anarchism or simply anarchy, in the day to day self-organization and revolt of everyday people in the face of the American plantation and finding ways to build solidarity and action with these organic forms. Our guests also stress the need for the anarchist movement to stop looking just to European groups, history, and movements for inspiration, and instead draw from the rich history of resistance to settler colonialism, slavery, and industrial capitalism in the so-called Americans, in order to better inform our organizing.

Music: Sima Lee and Black Star

For Info: Set up a workshop by getting in touch with Philly RAM here or via email (ramphilly@protonmail.com), read Anarkata statement, Black Rose reader on Black Anarchism here, and Burning Down the American Plantation from the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement here.

Reading Recommendations: 

As Black As Resistance by William C. Anderson and Zoé Samudzi

The Progressive Plantation by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin

Anarchism and the Black Revolution by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin

A Soldier’s Story: Revolutionary Writings by a New Afrikan Anarchist by Kuwasi Balagoon

Burn Down the American Plantation by the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement

Black Fighting Formations by Russell Maroon Shoatz

The Dragon and the Hydra by Russell Maroon Shoatz

Columbus Day Graffiti

  • October 16, 2019 11:57 pm

Submission


On some random Mural Arts mural in South Philly, after so-called ‘Columbus Day’

anti-columbus graffiti

  • October 16, 2019 11:56 pm

Submission

spotted near dickinson square in south philly

Trouble screening: Land and Freedom

  • August 26, 2019 9:53 pm

from Facebook

Trouble 21 looks at anti-colonial struggles in Turtle Island and Palestine

From the genocidal aftermath of Columbus’ accidental “discovery” of the New World, to the ever-deeper encroachments of Israeli settlements into the West Bank — five hundred years of European colonialism has cast a long shadow over this world. Colonization, in its supreme arrogance, carved up the globe according to the imperial logic of accumulation, imposing artificial borders on foreign lands and seeking to subjugate restive native populations through religious indoctrination and force of arms. But despite their military superiority, ideological warfare and constant recourse to savage brutality, colonial regimes have consistently failed to crush the will of colonized people to fight back. And the reason for this is simple. Occupation breeds resistance.

Anarchists, especially those of us who have never experienced the sharp edge of colonization, have much to learn from those waging this resistance. We also have a principled imperative to align ourselves with those facing acute forms of state violence and dispossession. To this end, this episode of Trouble draws on two examples of contemporary anti-colonial struggle – those waged by the Palestinians and the Mohawks of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy against their respective oppressors, the Israeli and Canadian settler-colonial states, in hopes of drawing out lessons and increasing our capacity for producing meaningful solidarity.

[August 28 from 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM at Wooden Shoe Books and Records 704 South St]

Columbus Monument Vandalized in Solidarity with National Day of Mourning

  • November 24, 2018 1:38 pm

Submission

The monument to celebrated colonizer, murderer, and initiator of indigenous genocide, Christopher Columbus, was covered in blood red paint during the late hours of Thursday, November 22nd. This act was taken in solidarity with the national day of mourning. Why should we celebrate a holiday where the theme is so baseless that the affects of its deceit can still be seen today in the suffering, deep poverty, alcoholism, and lack of health care on indigenous reservations… thanks to European settlers like Columbus!
Stop teaching your children to worship monsters. We are tired of your lies. We are coming after your monuments, and it won’t just be the confederate ones in the South! We will continue to paint, topple and toss into rivers all statues that glorify oppressors. Frank Rizzo’s granite head will roll past city hall soon enough.

Love and rage, some anarchists