Submission
On the eve of 2018 anarchists and anti-prison rebels gathered to make noise, show solidarity with prisoners, and express our disgust with prisons. While gathered in a park people shared drums and stickers before parading to the Federal Detention Center at 7th St and Arch St. The cold quiet streets filled with the reverberation of drums and the clanging of pots and pans, and the walls were decorated with posters, stickers, and tags against imprisonment. Once at the detention center the noise only got louder, growing frantic each time a prisoner flashed their cell lights, waved to us, or shone a flashlight out the tall thin windows. Fireworks lit up the facade of the gloomy building. After a while the cops showed up and not long after we marched away, insulting the police and shouting slogans, and dispersed safely. It felt great to be so loud and to see those locked inside enjoying and responding to us being there.
For a Black December, for a year full of revolt and defiance đ
Strength to everyone fighting repression <3 <3
Freedom for all prisoners
Thanks to so many who came through to show support. Despite unseasonably cold weather we danced our asses off, called to drop the charges and raised awareness about our upcoming trials. Moreover we triumphed over the unnecessary antagonism of the Philadelphia Police Department who pushed us off of the plaza in front of the Rocky Steps and on to the sidewalk stating ridiculously âthe grey squares are private property. You must stay on the brown squaresâ. In fact the âgrey squaresâ of the Plaza are part of Fairmount Park which is as public Philly property as it gets. We stood our ground and used their ridiculous aggression to illustrate how law enforcement stifles, harasses and silences those who dissent. A very helpful member of Up Against The Law googled videos of past demonstrations on the Rocky Steps and kept engaging the cops and pointing out how they were out of line and eventually they conceded. We took the grey squares with a cry off âweâve won the grey area.â And after all thatâs what weâre fighting for right? Some grey area in a world marked by straight line thinking and black and white authoritarianism. Long live the grey area! Letâs get our communities what they need and deserve. Letâs stand up for those who stand up for all of us. Letâs defend J20! If you want to get involved in ongoing efforts to support J20 defendants please message us.
Saturday November 11th from 1pm to 2:30pm come join the Philly J20 Solidarity team on the Rocky Steps at the Art Museum to help raise public awareness about the mass arrest of over 200 anti-Trump protesters on January 20th and to bolster support for defendants with upcoming trials (November. 15th and December 11th). These outlandish charges mark a new level of political repression and could set a disturbing precendent of how dissent will be handled in the future by our government.
We urge you to join us in expressing and protecting our 1st Amendment rights by participating in a J20 Dance Party and Rally, complete with a live DJ, puppets, signs and a fun environment. Come prepared to make noise, dance like nobodyâs watching and have a good time. Come learn about the importance of these cases, how to support defendants and how to raise awareness about J20.
Invite your friends, family and neighbors to join us in having fun, banding together in an era of state repression and raising awareness about J20.
We thank you for the support and are excited to see you there!
Acting on an anonymous tip sent by an infiltrator within Neo-Nazi circles, Antifa Philadelphia, Love City Antifa, local Anarchists and several other organizations/individuals arrived at Fairmount Park Saturday morning to confirm that Keystone State Skinheads were indeed holding their Leif Erikson Day event.
Even before the Nazis had arrived, there were indicators that the tip was true. Civil affairs and Uniform PD were on the scene around the Gazebo, and a small detachment of Antifa were being shadowed by bike cops.
Eventually though, Antifa made visual confirmation of Mark Daniel âIllegal Aryanâ Reardon heading towards the Gazebo on Lemon Hill on his red bike.
Reardon met up with Bryan Christopher Sawyer, the model who was fired from his job at the PA Academy of Fine Arts after posting a video of himself harassing a black woman with racist and sexist insults and abuse. Sawyer was repping Red Ice, a Neo-Nazi media company based in Sweden.
Bryan Sawyer (l) and Mark ReardonBryan Christopher Sawyer
Antifa attempted to approach Reardon and Sawyer to discuss some of their activities, but unsurprisingly they elected to run to the safety of Philly Police Department who had begun to congregate up around the Gazebo to undertake their traditional role as protectors for Fascists and Nazis.
By now, KSS began to arrive in carloads. We blasted the info out on social media in hopes of gathering some more opposition on short notice. Surprisingly, this appears to have been a new low in terms of attendance for KSS for this event. They managed to muster only about 25 Nazis to rally despite having opened up the event to strangers like Reardon and Sawyer and having gathered 40+ for the last 3 years since moving the event underground following a disastrous 2013 event.
Anthony James Olsen of Philly KSS holding pole. Wearing a mask (if they believe in what theyâre saying why are they wearing a mask huh?) is Mikey Marcink, Indiana Blood and Honour.
Their original plan was to march all the way to the art museum to give speeches in front of the Washington Monument in Eakins Oval which were to be broadcast on Red Ice. Once Antifa began to form up, though, that plan was quickly abandoned in favor of their time honored tradition of saying some dumb shit in a megaphone at the Thorfin Karlsefni Statue while Antifa chanted, shouted at and heckled them. After maybe 20 minutes at the statue, police pushed Antifa down the sidewalk and street to escort the Nazis back up Lemon Hill and to their cars.
As the Nazis left, Anti-Fascists blocked Lemon Hill Road to get pictures of the vehicles for future identification of any Fascists yet unknown to us.
The leaked info also gave Anti-Fascists the details on the KSS after party in FDR park, which was to be held in the stone pavilion behind the Swedish History Museum. Anti-Fascists also blasted this info out and small groups began arriving in the area.
This proved to be the one major mis-step Antifa made that day. By just releasing the info and not giving a point for opposition to converge, a roving band of about 15 KSS bones were able to target small groups of Anti-Fascists. One car with 2 Anti-Racist Punx was surrounded by KSS, some of whom were armed with pistols. Fortunately, they were able to de-escalate the situation and were uninjured.  Less fortunately, 3 Anti-Fascists who had arrived on the scene to try and help evacuate the Punx were recognized from the earlier demo and attacked by KSS. The Antifa fought bravely, using mace and fists to defend themselves against the bones who were armed with various weapons. Two of the Antifa sustained minor injuries.
It could have been even worse, but a wedding was being held at the Swedish History Museum.Bystanders began recording the incident on their phones which prompted the KSS bones to run (well, one was limping) for their cars and leave the area. As a result, the KSS after-party ended before it could even begin.
While the Nazisâ event was totally ruined and shut down prematurely both at Fairmount and FDR, we cannot claim full victory when any of our comrades are injured. We also recognize that the situation in FDR park could have gone much worse. This op was planned on almost no notice and questionable intel which presented a real challenge for us. That all said, itâs safe to say that Leif Erikson Day 2017 was a disaster for KSS thanks to the bravery and hard work of local and regional Anti-Fascists.
Below are some pics of the Fascists who showed up Saturday.  Our goal is to identify every single participant and expose them as the Nazis they are to their neighbors and co-workers. If you have any information on any of the Fascists who were there this weekend, e-mail us. When you come to Philly to rep KSS, Blood and Honour or any other Neo-Nazi organizations, and attack Anti-Racists, we will make you regret it.
Front row from left to right: Ian McCorts, Ryan Wojitowicz, Bob Gaus, masked nazi, Tim Wylie. Behind Wylie holding Norweigan flag is Liam Schaff, a longtime KSS associate that hasnât been seen in many years. In the far back with the Anti-Antifa shirt is Joey Phy of Philly KSS. In front of Phy with the goatee is Bryan Vanagaitis. Next to Vanagaitis with the sunglasses and Anti-Antifa shirt is Pat Rodgers. Behind Wojitowicz with his sunglasses on his forehead is Travis Cornell.
10 years on and smaller than ever⌠Keep it up, yall.
October 21 â Philly Anti-F.O.P. March 7:30pm @ Rittenhouse Square
Nationwide, people have taken over streets and highways to fight back against local police departments and their brutality. Putting heat on the department results in police chiefs and PR managers recycling the same lies to persuade the people to âmove onâ with our lives. Meanwhile, police unions such as the Fraternal Order of Police go out of their way to openly mock and intimidate the victims (and victimsâ families) with their perpetual terror. In rare occasions where departments attempt to fire officers, police unions fight tooth and nail to keep them instated. The F.O.P. does not care about public relations. They do not care to present themselves differently from what they truly are, a violent gang of bullies and proud of it. Philadelphia is home to arguably the most brutal branch of the F.O.P., historically and present. The F.O.P. continues to brutalize with impunity, while chiefs and PR managers try their best to cover their asses.
All struggles are anti-police struggles. For every slain, maimed, and brutalized victim of police terror, this is for us. Join your community for an intentional Anti-F.O.P. march on Saturday October 21st, Rittenhouse Square at 7:30pm.
Let the Philadelphia F.O.P. know we are sick of their shit. Wear Black!
It didnât take long for antifa to mobilize against the latest outing by the Keystone State âSkinheadsâ (KSS) and friends and even less time to send them packing. Props go to Philly!
PHILADELPHIA, PA â Oct. 14, 2017 â 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 âLeif Erickson Day Celebrationâ 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 âNo Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA!â 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.
TELL THE ADL: END DEADLY POLICE EXCHANGES. Militaristic policing doesn’t make us safe!
Why will the Anti-Defamation League, a self-professed civil rights leader, have a table at a conference of police chiefs?
Join JVP Philly for this action outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference. Weâll be out there to call on the Anti-Defamation League to stop running exchange programs between U.S. police departments and Israeli military. These exchanges exacerbate racist police violence, militarization, and surveillance both here and in Israel/Palestine.
Policing doesn’t make us feel safe, and we reject safety built on militarized, racist, Islamophobic policing.
We’re working towards a world in which safety for all people is created through community and justice, and not for some people only through violence against others.
This action is part of the #DeadlyExchange campaign to end police exchanges between the US and Israel. To learn more and get involved with this local campaign email philly@jvp.org.
An online fundraising page has been set up in coordination with the Philly Anti-Repression Fund to preemptively prepare for any possible arrests during the mobilization against the IACP.
From the No IACP Bail Fund:
Organizations and individuals will be mobilizing in mass demonstrations and have called for decentralized, autonomous actions throughout the weekend to oppose this gathering, and we need your help! Any funds you can give will go towards bail in the event of arrests that weekend, and itâs crucial that we fundraise in advance in order to show people coming out for this mobilization that we support them.
Please donate what you can â anything you can give helps!
** All funds not used for bail during the IACP conference will be donated to the Philly Anti-Repression Fund to support future arrestees. **
Jewish Voice for Peace â Philadelphia has called for an action on October 22nd outside the convention center targeting the participation of the Anti-Defamation League in the IACP conference. Their call, titled Tell the ADL: End Deadly Police Exchanges, reads:
TELL THE ADL: END DEADLY POLICE EXCHANGES. Militaristic policing doesnât make us safe!
Why will the Anti-Defamation League, a self-professed civil rights leader, have a table at a conference of police chiefs?
Join JVP Philly for this action outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference. Weâll be out there to call on the Anti-Defamation League to stop running exchange programs between U.S. police departments and Israeli military. These exchanges exacerbate racist police violence, militarization, and surveillance both here and in Israel/Palestine.
Policing doesnât make us feel safe, and we reject safety built on militarized, racist, Islamophobic policing.
Weâre working towards a world in which safety for all people is created through community and justice, and not for some people only through violence against others.
This action is part of the #DeadlyExchange campaign to end police exchanges between the US and Israel. To learn more and get involved with this local campaign email philly@jvp.org.
To kick off resistance to the IACP throughout their conference, a march has been called for the morning of Saturday, Oct. 21st, the first day of the conference. Meeting at Thomas Paine Plaza at 10AM, we will do our best to make it clear that the IACP and all police are firmly unwelcome in Philly.
Later on the 21st and on the 22nd, Philly for REAL Justice has called for two events as part of #AbolitionWeekend:
October 21-24, police chiefs from all over the nation will be gathering in Philadelphia. But we are clear that they are the heads of military forces which occupy black and brown communities, terrorizing and killing civilians. They will not come into our city without opposition.
On Saturday, October 21st, we rally outside of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, to denounce the militarized policing that plagues our country. [Event page here:Â http://bit.ly/2yvEKYN]
On Sunday, October 22nd, we are again outside of the Convention center, but this time, we will hold space as we discuss the theory of police abolition and the ways that we can fight for our freedom from the militarized police state. [Event page here:Â http://bit.ly/2xFryRG]
We need as many people as possible to come out, stand with us, and learn with us. Freedom is on the horizon. Itâs time for us to move.
Below are some new outreach posters! Click images for PDFs.
Keep an eye out for more announced events and actions, and feel free to send any calls, questions or endorsements to noiacp@riseup.net.
This month will mark the 10 year Anniversary of the first time Keystone State Skinheads, aka Keystone United, held their âLeif Erikson Day Celebrationâ along Kelly Drive in Fairmount Park.
The event, innocuous sounding and followed by a âfamily-friendlyâ BBQ, was a big hit among the more ârespectableâ elements of the Neo-Nazi skinheads scene. It also had the added advantage of being booked during the weekend that the Anti-Racist Action Networkâs 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 Peopleâs 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 âOccupy LEDâ 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 2012Â 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 âPhiladelphia Residents Against Racismâ 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 â 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 Workerâs 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 â 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]
âLol only half of us are actually Nazis and the others are being ironic. Weâre so funny.â
On Saturday July 15th Refuse Fascism (an anti-Trump/Pence coalition with no affiliation to our crew) held several âDrive our the Trump/Pence Regimeâ demonstrations around the country.
Having been thoroughly embarrassed over and over in the past few months, one might think that the racist right might have taken the hint and left these nice communists alone. And for the most part, you would be right. Gone were the throngs of suburban MAGAts, Bikers for Trump, and crews of White Nationalists we saw back in May during the failed âMake America Great Againâ march. Even the pathetic turnout on July 2nd could not be repeated. (See links if you are not a regular reader)
No, what turned out this past Saturday with some vague notion of disrupting or trolling the Refuse Fascism march represented the dregs of the Pennsylvania Alt-Right. Less than a dozen individuals brought together through social media and shared stories of catching beat downs for having bad situational awareness and worse politics, âralliedâ on the corner of 15th and JFK.
We say âralliedâ because they were basically silent the entire time, preferring to talk among themselves or occasionally argue with the Anti-Racists and Anti-Fascists that walked by on their way to the Refuse rally, which went off without a hitch across the plaza. They handed out two different fliers. The first was as vague as it was pathetic, listing a bunch of âposiâ slogans about how âWe can be great againâ though refraining from using Trumpâs name, and a bunch of masked pleading about how the alt-right are poor victims of Leftist violence. The 2nd flyer was largely a cut and paste job of that idiotic article put out by the NJ DHS claiming the Antifa are an âextremist group.â The article, riddled with inaccuracies and bias, was followed by an article detailing the far rightâs acts of violence, including ACTUAL murders, but these lovers of informed discourse declined to distribute any information about THAT article. Instead, they preferred to (incorrectly) assert that an article online means that all Antifa are now âclassified as terrorists,â when in reality none are.
After the Refuse march departed from their rally, barely even noting the MAGAts, they (along with their police escort and a handful of Anti-Fascists and media) walked over the the Fox and Hound on 15th street. The right wingers ordered food and drank for several hours.
Undercover police and surveillance made for a calm scene, but Antifa did inform the management of the identities of the alt-rightists, including the fact that one of them was non other than Mark Daniel Reardon, aka âIllegal Aryan,â the Neo-Nazi troll who has been putting up Neo-Nazi flyers in West Philly (more on that below). Reardon hopped into an Uber not long after. A few more of them would make similar exits until a core group headed back towards city hall to distribute more of their Anti-Antifa fliers. It did not take long for them to realize their folly and they were soon calling the cops for protection again.
So who were this patchwork crew of Alt-Knights, âClassical (racist) Liberals,â MAGAts and outright Neo-Nazis who struggled to even exist in Philadelphia while under constant police protection? Hereâs some of what we know about them:
Jeff Thomas
Jeff Thomas
Jeff Thomas is a member of Greater Philadelphia Alt-Knights. He is ânot a Nazi or White Supremacist.â He tries (repeatedly) to make that clear to Anti-Racists that object to his organizing events for Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists to attend. Thomas claims that he is an anarcho-capitalist or right libertarian, both nonsense terms invented to hijack leftist language about individual liberty to serve the rich. When confronted with the fact that everything he organizes (including this past Saturday) is at least 50% comprised of Neo-Nazis, Fascists or other White Supremacists, Thomas only shrugs his shoulders and mutters some absolution of responsibility based on his inability to control others. When youâre full of shit youâre gonna attract flies, Jeff.
Jeff claims on social media to be living in Collegeville but has a partner who lives in Philly and heâs still listed at his parentsâ house on S. Mountain Drive in Reading. He loves to debate, which we caution against as a waste of time, but if the mood strikes you he can be reached at 610-207-2223.
Thomas is working on a book on right and left politics. We imagine that when he wants to call it quits, he will claim this was all just research. Anyone remember Jacques Pluss? Anyway, time will tell. Itâs irrelevant because when you help organize and protect Neo-Nazis, your own personal politics are moot.
Thereâs no shortage of con-men or short-sighted demagogues on the right who may not consider themselves racist (again, completely irrelevant and laughable considering the circumstances). This is true for Jeff Thomas, and this is true for Gaving McInness, Donald Trump, or any other not-textbook-fascist who associates with, enables and emboldens Neo-Nazis and other racists and/or Fascists.
Mark Reardon
Mark Daniel Reardon, aka âIllegal Aryanâ
Regular readers of this site will remember Mark Daniel Reardon, aka âIllegal Aryan,â a The Daily Stormer poster who we exposed after he anonymously claimed responsibility for putting up Neo-Nazi flyers along Locust Walk a few months ago. According to a man who was at the rally Saturday and lives in West Philly, Reardon has been spotted putting up more flyers, including one at 36th and Chestnut. Reardon is a Neo-Nazi who attended the Traditionalist Workerâs Party rally in Pikevilly, KY in May and returned to find out he was no longer anonymous.
Reardon attending the private conference portion of the Traditionalist Workers Partyâs event in Kentucky.
Since then he was kicked out of his apartment but is still staying somewhere in Philadelphia and recently stopped by a Food Not Bombs serving at an anarchist space then took to twitter to gloat about how he had visited our âheadquartersâ (lol) and escaped detection.
However this past Saturday he was just a shook one who feebly refused to answer an elderâs question as to whether the Holocaust happened (though he stuck out his tongue and smiled when Jeff Thomas and others acknowledged the Holocaust happened).
Reardon pretty much refrained from talking with anyone other than the other Alt-Rightists, and was generally about as craven as we all expected. He did post a boasting report back afterwards about his ability to survive a day out in Philadelphia with police and sympathizer protection, in which Reardon also speaks highly of just how sympathetic the others there were to his politics and activities.
Ellsworth Lewis
Ellsworth George Lewis III
Ellsworth George Lewis III is a far-right wing racist troll who is a member of Greater Philadelphia Alt-Knights. He is 31 and lives on Lincoln Ave in Prospect Park, PA. He works at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park PA.
Here is a screengrab of Lewis discussing the âUnite the Rightâ rally being held in Charlottesville in August with the explicit aim of merging the outright racist elements of the right such as National Socialists and White Nationalists and the so-called ânon-racist rightâ like Ancaps and various so-called âsovereign citizens.â
Deborah Nemeth
Deborah Nemeth
Deborah Nemeth lives in center city. She works as a paralegal and business manager for Piscitello Law as well as Project Manager for Diamond Contractors. Her bigotry of choice seems to be Islamophobia. This is only her second appearance with this crowd by our count, and is another one of this crew that claimed to not be a Nazi or White Supremacist. For our feelings on that argument, see Jeff Thomas.
Howard Caplan
Howard Caplan, aka âPizzagate Howieâ
Howard Caplan, also known as âPizzagate Howieâ or by his (now suspended) twitter handle @pghowie1, is a local wingnut and the seemingly the last man on earth (or at least in Philadelphia) willing to publicly claim that the endlessly debunked Pizzagate conspiracy is a real thing. Caplan also burst into Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul during midnight mass on Christmas eve to deliver a tirade alleging a link between Pizzagate and The Catholic Churchâs (very real) scandals regarding sexual abuse. Before he was on Pizzagate, Caplan was the âHillary 4 Prison sign guyâ for flying said sign along Roosevelt Boulevard near where he lives in NE Philly.
Kevin Nally
Kevin Nally, JR
Kevin Nally Jr. is fucking gross. He is otherwise known as âpill eaterâ and he runs a website asianaryanism(dot)com (NSFW. Disgusting misogynist and racist content), the crux of which is advocate for a home for racist alt-right white men who fetishize east Asian women as submissive sex objects. When we say home we are being literal; the site claims to advocate for âa new ideology called âAsian Aryanismâ where a new white male-asian female ethnostate is established right next to the white ethnostate that Richard Spencer proposesâŚâ Nallyâs website features his writings and music, including an album called âRape is Loveâ with a disgusting cover featuring battered women.
Nally lives at 606 Nantucket Court in King of Prussia. He was with a woman, who people were calling âMollyâ.
So so far we got an Ancap who is either playing dumb or is just really dumb, a far-right LARPer, an Islamophobic nazi sympathizer, an actual Neo-Nazi, a racist misogynist, and fucking âPizzagate Howie.â This is a wonderfully diverse collection of unique fashy snowflakes.
Also spotted with the Alt-Right contingent included:
This douche had stars and stripes socks.This guy was with them. He seemed to be trying to blend into the Refuse Fascism rally but after Antifa started filming him he bounced.
There was also a 15 year old boy who expressed sympathy for the Traditionalist Workerâs Party and claimed âHitler did nothing wrong,â though they quickly backtracked and said âsome things.â His (hopefully ashamed) mother was literally waiting a few yards away behind a row of police. Daniel Reardon beamed about the little Nazi in his report back, claiming he had a âbright future.â Sounds like wishful thinking coming from a guy with a lot of hard times on the horizon .
And that was pretty much all of them, except for one or two who kept more or less silent.
Oh and there were some total P.O.S. Anti-Gay preachers there with their kids. Something about everyone going to hell. It was stupid. Later they went to Clark Park during a Dead Milkmen show and some of the attendees confronted them. Maybe thereâs room for them with Jeff and Howie and Debâs crew of people who are safe nowhere in Philadelphia.
Takeaways from this rather uneventful event are some classics (cops protect Fashies/the alt right is a bunch of rich kids and wingnuts getting duped by White Supremacists) as well as some disturbing new ones (Reardons report back, which we wonât link for obvious reasons, makes it very clear there is no limit to who this crowd associates with) as well as the always worthwhile goal of taking some time to let racists, sexists, homophobes and other assorted fascists know they are (still) not welcome in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, PA â A rally calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump took place Sunday morning at Liberty Bell Plaza. A variety of liberal and progressive organizations generally denounced the Trump administration, calling for Medicaid for all, and drawing attention to the ongoing Trump-Russia investigation.
Area antifascists were also in attendance. An announcement was published days before the event calling on people to come oppose various white supremacist, so-called âalt-rightâ elements who threatened to disrupt the impeachment rally.
The permitted march got underway shortly before noon, as planned.
Anti-Trump march of several hundred starting to take the streets in Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/m6tyUXA8hJ
The heavily policed march eventually ended without incident at a plaza downtown. However, a group of neo-nazis, white nationalists, and Trump supporters was also holding an event nearby.
Small Trump/alt right crowd marching down Ben Franklin blvd in downtown Philly with 4chan/Nazi flags pic.twitter.com/q47Wm7wVqF
The white nationalist pro-Trump march eventually ended at Logan Square, where the small crowd of a few dozen listened to speakers. One of the speakers presented his own version of Richard Spencerâs call for a âwhite ethnostateâ, which was met with applause.
Several individuals at the white nationalist event were carrying âKekistanâ flags, a visual reference to online harassment culture based on 4chan and other image boards. The âKekistanâ flag is a variation on the original German Nazi flag.
The âKekistanâ flag is based on the German Nazi flag
The pro-Trump rally then ended, but many of the group walked directly from their rally point to Tir na nOg, a nearby Irish pub where many of the white nationalists had planned to meet. In the alley outside the pub, several fights broke out between anti-fascists and white supremacists.
â Joshua Scott Albert (@jpegjoshua) July 2, 2017
Philadelphia police officers arrested four antifascist demonstrators, while not arresting any of the several Trump supporters who were also involved in the fights. (The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Donald Trump during his presidential campaign.)
When asked about white supremacists using their pub as a venue to meet, the manager at Tir na nOg declined to comment. The pubâs twitter account later tweeted a statement in response to comments made on social media.
â Tir na nOg Philly (@TirNaNogPhilly) July 2, 2017
In a separate incident from the fights outside the pub, a man who had been carrying a âTrump 2020â sign at the white nationalist event appeared to have been involved in a fight by Suburban Station in downtown Philadelphia. He was visibly covered in blood as he was removed by paramedics on a stretcher. SEPTA transit police arrested three individuals.
Man with ‘Trump 2020’ sign at Philly march/rally w Nazi flags, speeches for ‘white ethnostate’ later carried away on stretcher by paramedics pic.twitter.com/wQyxYS4E7V
On July 19, 1936, Spanish anti-fascist organizer Dolores IbĂĄrruri gave a speech calling her people to stand in solidarity against fascism during the Spanish Civil War. The speech concluded on a passionate call to arms: âLong live the Popular Front! Long live the union of all anti-fascists! Long live the Republic of the people! The Fascists shall not pass! THEY SHALL NOT PASS!â
On Sunday, July 2, 2017, members of fascist âalt-rightâ groups will attempt to disrupt a Philadelphia liberal-organized march calling for Trumpâs impeachment. We are calling for groups and individuals to mask up, crew up, and show up to send a strong message to the far-right that they are not welcome in our city. We will smash the growth of fascism by any and all means necessary.
First, letâs be clear. We arenât there to support the liberal strategy of impeachment. The focus on impeachment is strategically ineffective from a Left standpoint, as the media frenzy will mask discussion of fundamental policy changes desperately needed by working people.
It is also tactically idiotic. If the impeachment succeeds at removing Trump from office, there will be one more imperialist, bigoted, misogynist prick to pick up where he left off.
Philadelphia anti-fascists do not endorse wasting time while neo-Nazi, white nationalist groups grow in strength and number. Liberals twiddle their thumbs while the country fractures and its most detestable ideological elements bubble to the surface. We are the future that we need to see, and no oneâs fighting but us.
This is our city, and we have home turf advantage. But they know weâre coming this time, so we need to up our game even further beyond our victory at the Disrupt MAGA march. Alt-right groups including the Alt-Knights are looking to make their first splash in the streets of an east-coast Left stronghold. We need the numbers to humiliate them and send them scrambling back to their pathetic holes. Letâs show them how organized we can be.
There come times in history when we have to decide where we stand. The future of America is in flux, being fought on battlegrounds across the country. The growth of the neo-fascist Right must be countered by a united, active front from the Left. Make no mistake, July 2 will be another battleground moment.
We are calling on everyone to come together and fight against white supremacy and all the unconscionable ideologies held by the far right. We must deny them a platform to promote hate and let them know they are not welcome in our communities. Come masked, come with comrades, come ready to fight, come ready to win.
We meet at 10am at the Liberty Bell on Sunday, July 2.
NOTE: The purpose of the mask is to protect your identity and your freedom of expression. Itâs hard to be as courageous as we need to be on the streets if weâre worried about alt-right doxxers uncovering our identities and harassing our families. It also allows us to identify at a glance whoâs militantly anti-fascist and willing to put their bodies on the line for their values and beliefs.
We fully support this call to defend our city. The ranks of those coming to Philly to try and disrupt the liberal Impeachment march will be filled with avowed Neo-Nazis, racist Libertarian Capitalists and Anarcho-Capitalists, and other assorted Far-Right wannabe storm troopers. Philadelphia is an Anti-Fascist city now and forever.
