Wildcat Strike at Milk and Honey cafe

  • May 29, 2020 12:51 am

from Instagram

Wildcat walkout at Milk and Honey! “We as the employees of Milk and Honey Market have been called back to work without consultation about our needs in this moment of crisis, leaving many of us in precarious situations with regards to health, housing and safety. We have demanded that the owners acknowledge outlet group for collective bargaining, and have made a list of demands for what we need to keep ourselves and our customers safe. These demands included:
Adequate PPE for all staff at all times, and the ability to stop service if this is not available.
Appropriate signage for customers and employees about government guidelines regarding safety during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Resources for navigating interactions with customers or staff who do not follow these guidelines
An emergency plan in place should an employee show signs of or test positive for Covid 19
15$/hr minimum pay for all employees moving forward.

In response to these demands, the owners posted a sign today seeking new employees with a starting pay of 17$/hr, 2$ more than they offered to pay longtime staff who were willing to return to a safe environment. We as a staff have collectively decided not to return to work until the owners acknowledge our group and meet all of our demands. We have also updated our demands to ask for 17$/hr to reflect the wages they are offering new hires. We encourage others in the community not to accept employment or shop at milk and honey until these demands have been met.” #SolidarityForever #AnInjuryToOneIsAnInjuryToAll

from Twitter

The workers at @milkandhoneymkt on Baltimore Ave are forming a union. Please support them as more information and action steps come out.

The workers declare CLASS WAR IS BLACK LIBERATION! SOLIDARITY WITH MINNEAPOLIS! REST IN POWER, GEORGE FLOYD!

from Instagram

@eat_milk_and_honey workers went on strike. Instead of listening to reasonable demands, and out of hatred of employees asking for safer working conditions and a fair wage, they are attempting to hire scab replacements at a higher rate then the workers were asking for. DO NOT CROSS THE PICKET LINE! Demo to support the workers at 7:30am tomorrow @milkandhoneyrelief

Proud Boys Go A.W.O.L. As #RefuseFascism Steals the Show at Philly’s Branch Covidians Car Caravan

  • May 12, 2020 1:06 am

From Ida Vox

5/8/2020: Counterprotesters to the ReOpen Philadelphia protest block and disrupt the event.

The anti-fascist group, along with independent political actors blocked, diverted and diminished the caravan away from the City Hall roundabout.

Philadelphia, PA– Anti-quarantine and pro-Trump activists sought a successful anti-quarantine car caravan protest around City Hall Friday. But the demonstration ended with a whimper as opposing protesters caused problems for them.

In addition, the Philadelphia chapter of the neo-fascist Proud Boys, who announced a three hour joint protest time for a rally outside City Hall’s Dilworth Plaza that was supposed to start at noon, ended up not showing up at all.

The car caravan moved en mass from the south at Broad and Oregon Streets, towards City Hall. At the intersection of Chestnut and Broad Street, they were stopped by activists who went into the street and blocked them for up to 15 minutes. The car caravan was able to proceed when police arrived and cleared the roadway.

One of the vehicles that were a part of the Branch Covidian outing.

The caravan made a few spins around City Hall but it was again disrupted once again on the west side of City Hall where Market Street intersects with 15th Street when a line of roughly a half-dozen cars that were a part of a counter-action organized by Refuse Fascism intercepted the caravan at the stop light and blocked the intersection. After paralyzing the caravan, they got out their cars to chant and “banner drop.” One side of the banner said “Trump-Pence Must Go” and the other side said “REOPEN = DEATH.”

This is where the Proud Boys were going to be if they didn’t punk out.

After another 15 minutes or so the Refuse Fascism contingent left this major intersection, and left the anti-quarantine caravan seriously irritated. One caravan supporter reportedly threatened to slash the tires of the counter-demonstrators’ cars. No damage was observed however.

Soon after, police re-“routed” traffic away from City Hall, taking it off JFK Boulevard and moving it on to North Broad Street, and, Arch Street for a three block detour. This severed the caravan’s mass as it was fractured into small groups. Further aiding in this were counter-demonstrator elements within the caravan who instigated further interference. After approximately 80 minutes of a 180 minute-planned demonstration, large swaths of the car caravan were seen driving away from City Hall, heading in the direction of South Philadelphia.

Conservatives keep trying to pretend that neo-fascists that make them look bad are some sort of leftist plot. Why do they think that works?

The rally was organized by ReOpen Philadelphia, which was started by Victor Della Barba and his mother Jody, both longtime right wing activists in the city, Jody working as a secretary for Former Mayor Frank Rizzo, who was known for his racially polarizing efforts against the Black community. In addition to their Facebook page, there is another called ReOpen Philly, of which Proud Boy Zach Rehl is an administrator. The Philadelphia Proud Boys announced on their Telegram page that they were holding their rally at City Hall “to protest the unethical actions of tyrannical government arresting people for not closing their businesses!” At noon, there was no activity on Dilworth Plaza where they were supposed to hold their rally. At the time of this posting, the Proud Boys have not explained their absence.

Tensions flared on the ReOpen Philadelphia page over ReOpen Philly’s activities, prompting some there to disavow any association with the Proud Boy-related page. In 2018, Facebook banned the Proud Boys and any pages related to the group from its platform, but some like Sports, Beer and Politics, also maintained by Rehl, still remain, and they still create new ones such as ReOpen Philly.

This was one of the first times there was a counter to the ReOpen rallies that have been taking place across the country in the wake of the pandemic shutdown. “We stood up for science over willful ignorance, humanity first, not ‘America first;’ and chanted ‘Humanity, not Me-Me-Me.’” Refuse Fascism Philly posted to their Facebook page. “We are facing the immediate prospect of hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths from this regime’s handling of the pandemic alone, and they are using this to advance their fascist, genocidal agenda. It’s time to get organized to drive them from power.”

Pennsylvania has seen over 50,000 cases of Covid-19 and almost 3,500 deaths. Gov. Tom Wolf has said the shut down could extend into July.

UPDATE: 5/11/2020: This article was updated to note Jody Della Barba’s history with former Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo.

Philly Mayor and Judges Pressured To Release Inmates From Jail

  • April 16, 2020 2:43 am

from Unicorn Riot

By Chris Schiano, Unicorn Riot April 15, 2020

Philadelphia, PA – For the second time in a week, protesters have converged on city hall. They are demanding that Mayor Jim Kenney and judges in the First Judicial District move to immediately release prisoners from Philadelphia jails to avoid COVID–19 outbreaks. Several prisoners in the Philadelphia area have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that one Philly judicial official, Common Pleas Court Judge Marie Coyle, has denied every single request from inmates seeking to be released during the COVID–19 crisis.

[Youtube Video]

On Friday, April 10, a similar protest saw people gathering outside city hall via their cars and bikes to demand Mayor Kenney and Philly judges speed up mass releases to prevent COVID–19 outbreaks in the city jails. See Unicorn Riot’s live coverage from Friday’s protest here.

[Youtube Video]

After protesting at city hall, many protesters got back into their cars and took the caravan up State Road to Philadelphia’s House of Corrections, where they honked their horns to show solidarity with those locked up inside.

Protesters have also continued to gather lately outside the Riverside Correctional Facility, where several female prisoners have tested positive for coronavirus.

Documents show that Philadelphia judges apparently lied about their choices to delay assessing prisoners for release. On April 3, the First Judicial District claimed it had not received a list of inmates eligible for release, when Krasner’s office had in fact provided them with a list.

On March 13, a prison employee just outside outside Philadelphia in Delaware County tested positive for COVID–19.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has also called for the release of “thousands if not tens of thousands of people in prisons across Pennsylvania who frankly should not be there“. Krasner and the Pennsylvania ACLU have both petitioned the state’s Supreme Court “to exercise its authority to the fullest extent in order to reduce jail and prison populations to prevent COVID–19 outbreaks…”

According to Philadelphia Department of Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney, “As of April 14, there are 54 current cases of COVID–19 among inmates.”

Pennsylvania prison officials last month refused to release Walter Ogrod, a death row inmate believed to be innocent, despite a court order for his release. The Department of Corrections is also refusing to test Ogrod for COVID–19, despite what his lawyers say are symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.

On April 8, a 67-year-old man from Philadelphia died from the coronavirus at SCI Phoenix, a state prison in Montgomery County. State prison officials declined to identify the name of the first loss of life to COVID–19 in their custody.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has floated using his executive clemency powers to temporarily release large segments of the state’s prison population, although PA Republicans are pressuring him not to do so.

Unless officials move swiftly to release prisoners, many Philadelphians fear their loved ones could be next.

Car Protest Demands Philadelphia Officials Release Prisoners To Save Lives In Pandemic Crisis

  • April 10, 2020 11:14 pm

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA – Protesters gathered by car outside city hall to demand that Philly Mayor Jim Kenney and other city officials take swift action to release prisoners from local jails as the COVID-19 pandemic crisis intensifies. Jails and prisons have become some of the largest epicenters of coronavirus outbreaks in the USA, due to their close quarters and unsanitary conditions.

Unicorn Riot reported from the scene at Philadelphia’s city hall:

[Youtube Video Here]

A call for the car protest was spread by the local chapter of the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement (RAM), a self-described “political movement dedicated to freeing people from bondage and building resistance in the United States.”

The demonstration was organized by Decarcerate PA, ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project, Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, Philadelphia Bail Fund, and Media Mobilizing Project.

During the past two weeks Unicorn Riot has covered other physically-distant car demonstrations demanding the release of prisoners during the pandemic — a #NeverAgain demo outside the home of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in St. Paul, MN and a demo to #FreeThemAll in downtown Denver, CO.

Philly Noise Demo Reportback

  • January 4, 2020 12:19 am

Submission

Happy New Year Fuck the System!

On NYE in Philly about 20 anarchist gathered for a march and noise demo at the Federal Detention Center Downtown. At the meet up, after an overview of what to expect, what was planned, and flyers of potential chants were handed out, we set off toward the prison. Marching with a banner, we kept it tight and let people in the streets know what we were doing. We walked on the sidewalk until we realized we didn’t need to. A federal building and indigo bike rental kiosk were tagged by the time we arrived at the prison. Once there, someone tagged ‘Burn Prisons’ on the FDC lolol! We lit off fireworks, smoke bombs, banged flags and pots and sang and shouted solidarity to the prisoners inside, and insults to the cops gathered around us. It was really cool this year to interact with those inside, to see them flashing lights and hear them banging on windows. After 30-45 minutes we took our leave, throwing fliers in our wake. The cops, who had started gathering at the prison, followed us. We had planned for a group fare evasion at the subway as our exit, but with the police breathing down our necks we dispersed in the street instead. Eventually we lost the trails of the cops and made our ways home safely. Some of us even had a funny serendipitous group fare evasion with some strangers, who in seeing us not pay decided they wouldn’t pay either! Yay for the spread of anarchy!
Compared to last year we feel a lot has improved. Whereas last year we were rushed out of our meetup by the appearance of a park cop, this time we had a chance to discuss the action together and share supplies. Security felt tighter also, people’s outfits were secretive and no one was taking photos. Also this year we could really feel a shift in group morale. There was a lot more laughter and joy. We though our chants were funnier and more on point (rather than empty flexes). Maybe most importantly we were able to see and be seen by the people locked up, we saw lights and silhouttes in the windows and could hear them clearing lulls in the noise.
The things we wish went different were: our speaker wasn’t loud enough to play music, our dispersal was sloppy (we feel like it is always hard to predict dispersals/exits but could be worthwhile have multiple plans/multiple backup plans and discuss them in advance), and we could have took the streets a little harder. Overall though, we thought it went well.
We hope this report back is helpful in forming even better strategies in the future. It’s cool to reflect on our strengths and weaknesses and make adjustments over the years.

Shout out to the anarchists who were busy wrecking the nazi supporting bar mill creek tavern on nye!

RIP Kitty

Happy 2020 lets fuck shit uP!!




fare strike update/plan/announcment

  • December 5, 2019 6:22 pm

Submission

SEPTA, along with all of this country’s sorely lacking public transit, is paid for with the tax dollars of the American people. then, after taking our money, they have the balls to charge us for the “privilege” of getting to work, visiting out friends and whatever the hell else people want to do that isn’t in walking distance.
The goal of this action, along with being a strike against the injustice faced in daily life under capitalism and showing support for similar actions taking place across the world, is to demonstrate what we are capable of when acting collectively. A life free from coercion is possible. The first step is acting like we’re already there, even if only for a day. Public transit should be free, so we’re taking it upon ourselves to make that true.
hop, swipe your homies, hold the emergency door, do whatever whenever where ever as long as no one pays
City hall, 3 PM 12/24/19

Philadelphia, PA: Anti-ICE Protesters Disrupt Devereux Gala Against Detention of Migrant Children

  • November 20, 2019 8:54 pm

from It’s Going Down

Report from recent action in Philadelphia against Devereux which has accepted a contract  to open several migrant youth detention facilities.

On Saturday night, over 100 Jews, immigrants, and allies marched in the streets as others from the group infiltrated the annual fundraising gala of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. The demonstration was part of a larger campaign highlighting the $14 million contract Devereux accepted from the federal government to open several migrant youth detention centers. This action is the latest escalation from the national Jewish movement Never Again working in collaboration with local immigrant justice organization Juntos to demand that Devereux stop detaining migrant children.

On the streets outside of the event, protesters marched from 8th and Cherry to the National Constitution Center where the gala was held. Protestors chanted slogans like “It’s Not a Shelter, It’s a Jail” and blocked the Constitution Center parking garage where Devereux was offering free parking to its guests.

On October 17th, several dozen protestors from this campaign blocked the main exit to Devereux National Headquarters while protesting the nonprofit’s plans to hold migrant children in a detention center in Devon, PA. Devereux plans to use its $14 million contract from the Office of Refugee Resettlement to operate multiple youth detention centers nationwide, including one in Devon, PA, where they plan to house 42 migrant children who crossed the border without an adult.

Although Devereux calls them “shelters,” their facilities for migrant children are in fact detention centers since the children held there will be forbidden from leaving. “These young people need to be immediately reunited with their families or sponsors, not detained,” said Juntos Executive Director Erika Almirón, adding that agencies like Devereux “aren’t trying to help these children, they’re trying to make money.”

Devereux claims to be “apolitical” and “neutral” on immigration policy, but its participation in the terrifying status quo is cowardly. The number of kids in cages is higher than it’s ever been, and only growing under this administration. In 2019 alone, 70,000 migrant children were detained, including infants and toddlers — more than ever before in the US and more than any other country in the world.

The detention center in Devon recently had its zoning permit revoked and organizers demand that Devereux accept this decision. They further demand an end to corporations profiting off of immigrant detention, the complete defunding of ICE and CBP as overall agencies, and permanent protection for all undocumented immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

Campaign Targeting Devereux’s Youth Detention Centers Escalates as Protestors Plan to March

  • November 15, 2019 5:38 pm

from It’s Going Down

Call for mass march on November 16th in Philadelphia against an immigrant youth detention center.

Philadelphia – On Saturday night, Jews, immigrants, and allies will march through downtown Philadelphia to protest the creation of privately-held immigrant youth detention centers by Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. Devereux recently received a $14 million contract from the federal government to detain migrant children in facilities across the country, including in Devon, PA.

This action is the latest escalation from the national Jewish movement Never Again working in collaboration with local immigrant justice organization Juntos to demand that Devereux stop detaining migrant children. On October 17th, several dozen protestors from this campaign blocked the main exit to Devereux National Headquarters.

We demand that Devereux cancel its plans to hold 42 migrant children in a detention center in Devon, PA. We further demand an end to corporations profiting off of immigrant detention, the complete defunding of ICE and CBP as overall agencies, and permanent protection for all undocumented immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

Devereux claims to be apolitical while it is catering to the political ends of the U.S. government. This was made clear when Devereux’s Leah Yaw told the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), “Should ORR needs dictate, Devereux is ready to grow capacity well beyond the 182 beds [initially opened] during this project’s three-year award cycle.” Devereux cannot remain apolitical when it makes covert promises to the Trump government that it will supply more and more child detention centers should the white nationalists in charge of our immigration policy deem it necessary.

There is no reason that unaccompanied children should be detained. In applying for asylum, they have committed no crime, and for decades, the US did not incarcerate them. Yet in 2019, nearly 70,000 migrant children have been detained so far, including infants and toddlers. While Devereux claims to be offering vital services to traumatized children with “specialized needs,” they are merely perpetuating trauma through a system of violence that has taken these children from their families and holds them indefinitely.

While the guests at Devereux’s 20th-anniversary gala enjoy appetizers and wine, the money they donate enriches an organization that seeks not only to prop up, but expand the current detention-and-deportation regime.  As Jews, we know that people are isolated in secure facilities so the rest of the population can look the other way. Never Again stands with Juntos against private detention and the entire immigration deportation machine. We know that when a government targets one group of people, it is only a matter of time before everyone’s freedom is under attack.

Join us, 6 PM, Saturday 11/16/19, N 8th and Cherry St Philadelphia, PA.

Call to Support Dwayne & Jarreau of the Vaughn 17 in Court!

  • August 29, 2019 12:02 am

from It’s Going Down

Call to support Dwayne and Jarreau of the Vaughn 17 as they go to court on September 13th in Wilmington, DE.

Facebook Event HERE

In February of 2017, 18 prisoners in James T. Vaughn Prison were initially charged with multiple counts of murder, rioting, conspiracy and kidnapping. 1 of the initial suspect turned to a state star witness and Kelly Gibbs took his own life leaving a letter of declaration. Jarreau Ayers and Dwayne Staats already incarcerated with life without parole recieved charges, however the rest of the group received not guilty charges or had their the charges dropped. As their sentencing day is coming up we are asking you on behalf of their families to show up to court and hold signs in front of the court building.

Jarreau “Ruk” Ayers writes:

On September 13, 2019 myself along with our Comrade Dwayne Staats, the only two to be found guilty for the Riot that occurred on Feb 1 of 2017 at James T. Vaughn Prison that left one CO dead, will be called before the “Courts”, a conduit for this white supremacist totalitarian government in the occupied territory of Wilmington, DE. For purposes no other than what Ms. Assata Shakur correctly identified as a public lynching. We ask that you support us with your presence to make it abundantly clear to the authoritarian tyrants that they are being watched. That myself along with our comrade Dwayne Staats will NEVER be left alone, for this system to be psychological torture and isolate to the point of mental deterioration, I ask that you stand with us in solidarity as a clear acknowledgement that we the people determine what’s right and just. That we the people find that the actions of those who stood for the people of oppression on Feb 1, 2017 were righteous and just and deserve to be commended, not condemned.

We ultimately ask that you support us with your presence as a clear signal to those comrades not born yet or who are just consciously coming of age, that when you take action for your beliefs, our collective beliefs and are no longer just an orator of beautiful ideals, you won’t be abandoned! That regardless of the hardships, time/distance or enormity of the enemy, we will stand unflinchingly in solidarity!
Jarreau “Ruk” Ayers

Fore more information on how to support Dwayne and Jarreau on September 13th, go here.

Antifascist Alert! Far-Right March Saturday

  • August 2, 2019 10:27 pm

from It’s Going Down

Community alert that a far-Right march will take place on Saturday in Philadelphia.

WHITE NATIONALISTS, ISLAMOPHOBES and other assorted FASCISTS are planning to show themselves in Philly on 8/3, for a late-announced march under the guise of “Patriot Pride.”

Organized by Houston resident Chris White with local the event doubles as a publicity campaign for White’s “Freedom Hard” lifestyle brand. As part of an attempted national campaign White marched in Chicago on July 27th to a paltry turnout, had planned to hold similar events in DC and Philly, but seems to have canceled his DC event for lack of interest.

But what White and friends either don’t know or care about, is that this march’s registered attendees include members of hate groups such as the Proud Boys, Three Percenter Militia, Chester County KKK, white supremacist Asatru practitioners and other assorted far right CHUDs.

As seen nationally post-Charlottesville, many far right groups have retreated from attempts to organize in the open, and recruit covertly inside more milquetoast right wing groups. This was widely exposed leading up to last year’s “We The People” rally, similarly organized under the guise of innocuous patriotism but actually planned and attended by Three Percenter Militia and Proud Boys members.

Take this information as you will; vulnerable folks seeking to avoid Center City tomorrow is totally understandable. But if you’re willing and able to help keep Nazi’s and their ilk off our streets, any resistance is encouraged!

Tomorrow’s unpermitted “Patriot Pride” march includes plans gather at 11AM the Liberty Bell, and then march at noon to an unspecified location.

Noise Demo Against Borders & to Remember Willem van Spronsen

  • July 14, 2019 10:05 pm
Submission

Friday – July 19th – 8PM
Washington Square Park, 6th & Walnut
March & Noise Demo Against Borders & to Remember Willem van Spronsen
——–
Spread widely! Three fliers attached. Half-reluctant Facebook event here.
——–
“On July 13, Willem Van Spronsen was killed by police while apparently taking action to disable the fleet of buses that serve the Northwest Detention Center, a private immigration detainment facility.”
We hope to act to honor Will’s memory in solidarity with all those affected by the border regime – from the detention centers to the desert.
No Borders. No Prisons. No Cops.
Escalate.
Statement from Will’s friends:
https://pugetsoundanarchists.org/we-are-the-fire-that-will-melt-ice-rest-in-power-will-van-spronsen-olympia-wa/
https://crimethinc.com/2019/07/14/on-willem-van-spronsens-action-against-the-northwest-detention-center-in-tacoma-including-the-full-text-of-his-final-statement


NJ Boneheads Tried to Cause Trouble at Philly I.C.E. Protests

  • July 6, 2019 12:47 am

from Idavox

L-R, Dan D’Ambly of the NJEHA and Ron Sheehy

Ron Sheehy and Dan D’Ambly led a crew of four people to harass members of the Jewish community and their supporters protesting Trump’s concentration camps. Gee, whatever got their dander up?

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Neo-Nazis, two who were readily identified as participants in the 2017 “Unite the Right” Rally in Charlottesville, were seen at an anti-ICE protest at Independence Hall today.

Jewish-American organizations across the country organized this week to be a national “Never Again Week of Action,” and are holding similar marches across the U.S., linking the current immigration enforcement tactics employed by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the Holocaust. “As Jews, we’ve been taught to never let anything like the Holocaust happen again,” the Facebook event page reads. “Now, with children detained in unacceptable conditions, ICE raids targeting our communities, and people dying at the border while seeking safety in the US, we are seeing the signs of a mass atrocity. We refuse to wait and see what happens next.”

During the march, four White men identified as neo-Nazis were heckling the passing protesters with anti-Semitic language. Of the four, two were identified because of their notoriety. Dan D’Ambly of the New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA), raised the Betsy Ross American flag while shouting at passers-by, while Ron Sheehy, once of the Advanced White Society joined him while videotaping those he was heckling on his cell phone. According to a since deleted post from his “Tremley” account on Stormfront, the other two were members of NJEHA.

Sheehy also said the four of them later attempted to lay a wreath emblazoned with NJEHA decals on the grave of Ben Franklin but was met with opposition. “We all paid $3 each to get into the Cemetery, and we asked if we can lay a Reef (sic) on Ben Franklin’s Grave Site so we can take a Picture,” he wrote. “(T)hey said ok, but once we did, 2 queer guys who worked there flipped out and tried taking the Reef (sic) away from us. A lot yelling back and forth with them calling us White Supremacist and stuff, so we left after that.” Sheehy also went to an anti-I.C.E. protest earlier this week at the offices of Rep. Tom Malinowski where he heckled the protesters while videotaping them. It is not known at this time if anyone joined him there.

D’Ambly is best known for attempting to hold a rally in Princeton, NJ but failed to show once the residents learned of his plans. The NJEHA seldom, if ever, hold public rallies, opting instead to post flyers on telephone poles in various cities around the state. Sheehy has been seen often at anti-immigration events over the past decade in the New York City area, and just like D’Ambly was photographed at the rally in Charlottesville which cost this life of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed when White Supremacist James Fields plowed his car into a crowd of protester. D’Ambly was also identified as one of the participants of the “Unite the Right 2” rally the following year in Washington, DC, with his NJEHA organization.

Dozens of protesters were arrested during the Fourth of July Parade while marching through demanding those being held in what has been referred to as concentration camps be removed from such establishments, one of them being in Berks County, PA.

End ICE Contracts! Mayday Solidarity March

  • April 24, 2019 12:26 am

from Facebook


The ‘End ICE Contracts! Mayday Solidarity Rally’ is a show of solidarity with workers all around the world with a specific emphasis on solidarity with the local immigrant community. The march will highlight corporate sponsorships of ICE.

Meet at the Octavius Catto Statue

[May 1st from 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM at South Penn Square]

Unicorn Riot Coverage of Candace Owen Protest

  • April 15, 2019 11:28 pm

from Twitter

Far-right campus group Turning Point USA’s director Candace Owens just showed up at UPenn campus in Philadelphia. She ignored our questions about whether TPUSA plans to address ongoing neo-Nazi infiltration and recruitment among their membership.
[Video Here]

A group of Proud Boys and others have shown up and started a heckling match with antifascists opposing Candace Owens and Turning Point USA at UPenn in Philadelphia
[Video Here]
We were able to briefly interview Candace Owens when she appeared at UPenn in Philly today. Owens didn’t respond to a Q about her recent dubious Congressional testimony & called it “a weird question” when we asked about being cited in the New Zealand mosque shooter’s manifesto.
[Video Here]

Turning Point GTFO

  • April 14, 2019 9:44 pm

from Facebook

Candace Owens, Hitler apologist, the racist alt-Right’s best black friend (https://www.theroot.com/candace-owens-is-racist-white-americas-black-friend-and-1833921887), and communications director for Turning Point USA, sure has been making the rounds recently. After testifying at the House Judiciary Committee with the clear intention of derailing a hearing on white nationalism, and gracing Storrs, CT with her authoritarian rhetoric at the University of Connecticut on April 9, Owens is making her way back to Philadelphia. She will give a talk at the University of Pennsylvania on Monday August 15, in an event sponsored by the UPenn College Republicans and ultra conservative paper The Statesmen.

While Owens tries to deny the white supremacist politics behind TPUSA and the broader right movement in the so-called U.S., she fully embraces and espouses positions that are explicitly anti-trans, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim. Examples include statements that trans identities are “a mental disorder” and that “Europe will fall and become a Muslim majority continent by 2050. There has never been a muslim majority country where sharia law was not implemented.” After Owens was mentioned in the manifesto of the Christchurch, New Zealand, shooter, her response was literally “LOL.”

Suffice it to say that Owens, along with her buddy Charlie Kirk and TPUSA, run in the same racist dog-piling circles as Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson, Lucian Wintrich, and other white nationalist, white supremacist groups such as the Proud Boys. All of these individuals and groups have several important things in common: they deny that racism is a problem while simultaneously spewing white supremacist, homophobic, misogynistic rhetoric that has been directly linked to violence and mass killings. They claim Hitler’s only mistake was “globalism” rather than focusing on “nationalism.” They spout hateful rhetoric about immigrants and workers alike, not to mention women, Muslims, the trans community, and people of color. They simultaneously call for a weaker government while chumming up with grand fascist and white supremacist himself, Trump.

More in-depth analysis of Owens’ politics can be found here: https://itsgoingdown.org/how-white-nationalist-jared-taylor-wrote-candace-owens-playbook/
here: https://itsgoingdown.org/call-to-action-shut-down-charlie-kirk-and-candace-owens-at-uconn/
and here: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/438072-ted-lieu-plays-candace-owenss-comments-on-hitler-out-loud-to-her-at-white

As noxious as Owens and TPUSA are, and as crucial as it is to drive them out of town when they do show up, it is equally important to recognize that they are invited by people who actually live in Philadelphia. UPenn College Republicans are actively attempting to advance anti-trans, islamophobic, xenophobic, misogynist and anti-immigrant politics in Philly. That they are doing so from a university that is and has been aggressively advancing gentrification in west philly is especially noxious.

We call on all students, staff, employees, and Philly residents to denounce and disrupt both her appearance and the sniveling rich kids who invited her. We cannot stand by and watch as her positions are cast as “free speech,” “dialogue,” and “conversation” when we know what it really is – an authoritarian project to carry out violence against ourselves and our friends and neighbors.

There can be NO platform for fascists and racist hatespeech! Come out Monday April 15 to SHUT DOWN fascist speech in Philadelphia, remind Candace of the last time she tried to step foot in our city https://twitter.com/PhillyANTIFA/status/1026468028383457282 https://twitter.com/PhillyANTIFA/status/1026508608836722689, and let our community and neighbors know we have their backs! Bring drums, whistles, trumpets, other noisemakers, and your dance shoes for a party in the street. 6:15PM, College Hall, UPenn, off 34th & Spruce.

We also call on all those who can to crew up and engage in autonomous actions. Diversity of tactics should and must be respected.

Gritty says Get the Fuck Out
No Borders.
Trans Day of Revenge 24/7/365.
Queer as in Fuck Nationalism.
FTP // 1312 // (A)