During the summer of 2017 Linette was wrongfully accused and arrested for vandalism in South Jersey. Linette is being wrongfully targeted by police due to their leadership as an activist against police violence and repression. Linette’s ongoing legal battle is becoming increasingly difficult and they need your help.
Linette has been denied for Pre Trial Intervention four times and is now facing five misdemeanors of criminal mischief and the possibility of a minimum of 5 or more years of jail time. In order to be accepted into the Pre Trial Intervention program, which would in turn drop all of Linette’s charges, Linette needs to pay $30,000 of restitution. Friends of Linette are trying to raise $15,000 to help mitigate the cost for Linette’s family.
If Linette cannot raise this money by April 20th 2018 the case will unfortunately go to trial. Because Linette is already a target for police the likelihood of the court system making and example of them is extremely high. If you oppose police repression, support activism, or believe in freedom of speech and expression please give to Linette’s fund. Keeping activists out of prison and in the communities where they are doing the work is critical to upholding justice, we can’t do it without you!
A bus full of pipeline protesters. From Lancaster Against Pipelines facebook
Something extraordinary happened in Lancaster County yesterday.
A busload of fifty local residents took over the field offices of Williams/Transco at 805 Estelle Drive, Suite 101, in Lancaster. We dropped a 12 foot stretch of pipeline in Williams’s meeting room, sang songs through the hallways, and slapped a Condemnation Notice on the door before leaving. When a Williams employee complained about our visit, one of our residents deadpanned: “Sucks to be invaded, doesn’t it?”
Our message was simple and direct: we the people, whose lives and land are under assault by this toxic piepline, openly defy the “right” of dirty energy giants to profit at the expense of our health, safety, water, and land.
From there, the bus headed down to southern Lancaster County where Williams is drilling under the Conestoga River and desecrating federally recognized indigenous graves. The HDD process they’re using is the same one now contaminating drinking water along the Mariner East 2 pipeline.
We walked off the bus and sang our way straight onto the worksite, right past the workers, and up onto the drill rig itself. After police arrived, five bold residents locked arms and stood atop that monstrous machinery for another three hours, shutting down operations for the rest of the day.
By day’s end, the Drill Rig Five were arrested while defending our community. It’s a perversion of justice that law enforcement are sued to protect the financial interests of energy giants in Oklahoma over the health and safety of local residents. We look forward to the day when fossil fuel billionaires are stuffed into police cruisers for sabotaging our children’s future, rather than those of us peacefully working to protect that future.
Yesterday made one thing crystal clear: local communities are done waiting around for regulators, legislators, judges, and law enforcement to protect our most basic rights–pure water, healthy soil, clean air, and safe communities.
Until it’s illegal for dirty energy giants like Williams to seize farmland and force explosive pipelines next to our children’s schools, we’ll keep walking onto their destruction sites, dropping pipes into their corporate offices, and singing songs of defiance right onto their deathly drill rigs.
Momentum is shifting, and the industry knows it. That’s why they’re so desperate–and why we need to be more resolved than ever. And the march goes on!
The Philadelphia Industrial Workers of the World is collecting non-perishable food items to donate to striking teachers in West Virginia. We will be driving the collected food to fellow workers next week.
If you want to contribute to the food drive, you can leave non-perishable food items in the food drive box at Wooden Shoe Books on south street.
Are you not sure what to donate? Here are some ideas:
1. Canned beans
2. Peanut butter
3. Canned fruit in fruit juice (not syrup)
4. Canned vegetables,
5. Rice
6. Quinoa
7. Nuts
8. Shelf-stable milk
9. Whole grain pasta
10. Pasta sauce
11. Cereal
12. Dried fruits
If the strike ends before we can deliver the food, we will be donating the food to the Cedar Haven Nursing Home strikers.
West Virginia has been rocked by a statewide strike by teachers, bus drivers, and other school employees. Today, March 2nd, the strike enters its seventh day.
Beginning on February 22nd, workers shut down public schools in all 55 of West Virginia’s counties, rejecting abysmal and declining teacher pay and the state’s attack on public employees’ health insurance. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), one of the unions helping to organize the strikers, reports the following worker demands:
A natural gas severance tax that creates a self-sustaining source of revenue for PEIA [Public Employees Insurance Agency] and public employee pay.
No regressive taxes, which ultimately affect working-class families more than the wealthy elite.
A permanent tabling to any and all legislation pertaining to co-tenancy and joint development, which allow large natural gas industries to engulf local landowners.
A pay raise of 5% per year over the next half decade.
A permanent tabling to any and all legislation pertaining to charter schools, voucher systems, and any attempts to privatize public schools.
On February 27th, Governor Justice announced an agreement with three of the major teacher unions in the state: a 5% pay increase for teachers as well as a 3% increase for state employees generally. Union officials and the governor alike pleaded for school employees to return to work, despite the fact that key demands remain unmet.
Meanwhile, that same day, even the modest pay raise was refused in the state legislature.
Below is an interview conducted via email between John Schultz of RED and Michael Mochaidean, a West Virginia teacher and member of the IWW.
JS: Can you give a brief account of how the statewide teachers’ strike in West Virginia began and developed? What role did the rank-and-file play, and what role did the IWW as well as the major teacher unions (AFT, WVEA, etc.) play?
MM: I am speaking here as an individual within the IWW, not as a representative for the West Virginia IWW or the IWW broadly speaking. […]
The statewide strike did not originate with the unions and their leadership, but rather with the rank-and-file of their membership. It began as an effort by members to do away with the strategies of leadership that seemed stale and unable to adapt to changing times. For example, leadership had endorsed Governor Jim Justice as a Democrat, but he soon changed his party and was in opposition to the unions and teachers by and large, so we felt that this strategy of endorsing and electing conservative Democrats would only backfire in the future. This movement was entirely rank-and-file in its beginning and as it has progressed over the past week. Both AFT and WVEA have worked jointly on these issues at the county and state level, with many members acting on behalf of the other.
This cross union solidarity raised the consciousness among many teachers of the need to perhaps consider uniting the associations in the future. The IWW is relatively new to West Virginia in the sense that we have no official chapter in the state and only a few disconnected members. However, the outpouring of support from IWW members has been immense. Wobblies from the southern states reached out to me after they listened to my interview with IGD and we began organizing for more direct control over the unions. We developed brochures, pamphlets, and literature to be distributed throughout the state to keep up the momentum for grassroots organizing within and outside the official associations. We also set up a strike fund to fund possible leafleting campaigns, renting halls, inviting speakers, and the like.
JS: What conditions as well as organizing strategies do you think helped make this strike a broad and powerful one? And what could others–not only unions, but social movements generally–learn from the West Virginia teachers?
MM: The anarcho-syndicalist tradition offers the best analysis, in my mind, as to how we can understand the teachers movement and its efficacy. The inherent contradictions in capitalism and the resource paradox nature of our state provided necessary conditions for public service personnel to slowly lose their rights as laborers. However, the history of West Virginia is one of mutual aid and community support that grows organically rather than through vanguard party structures. Therefore, anarchist traditions of mutual aid and support are more palatable and grew within the associations themselves. Furthermore, by framing this discussion as one of public employees versus the state, we engaged in the syndicalist tradition that workers of those areas should determine their destinies.
I would say that other social movements should try to look at what is happening here in the state as part and parcel of our current late stage of capitalism. Focus the discourse on larger, interrelated issues, but at the heart, deal with one issue that can connect all others. For us, it was our insurance plan. By tying the issues in our insurance plan to larger issues of worker autonomy, capitalism, and corporate elites profiting off of our labor, we could bring in these other points simultaneously without losing traction on the issue of healthcare.
JS: On February 27th, it was announced that the teachers’ strike would end: Governor Jim Justice had come to an agreement with leaders from three of the major unions organizing the strike. And yet the IWW-WVA points out that key demands haven’t been met: a tax on natural gas to help fund teachers’ health insurance and pay, for example. What does this deal signify about the major unions and their relationship to workers?
MM: Our statement [which can be found here] is reflective of the conditions of public employees who were overwhelmingly opposed to any compromise with the state that did not include long term funding for PEIA. The severance tax, proposed by Sen. Ojeda, has been continuously shot down by the legislature, in part because of the control the oil and natural gas industry lobby has in the state. Public employees seemed to feel that the deal was intended to fracture the unions and their support among all public employees, as well as the communities they serve. Thus, they decided to engage in another day of work stoppage (03/01) until these issues have been voted on.
We do not wish for rank-and-file members to leave their primary unions, but rather to engage in more direct efforts to hold their leadership accountable and ensure that whatever deals are made are done so with full knowledge by all of those involved.
JS: Teacher have often been on the front lines of union struggles in recent years. What role do teachers play within the broader struggles of workers in America? What possibilities are there for teachers to connect with and support other kinds of workers?
MM: Teachers had to take to the front lines in this state because other public employees – police officers, DOH, EMTs – are unable to call a walkout because their careers are deemed essential. Since we still have a relatively strong union presence for educators in this state, we used this avenue to push for benefits for all public employees, knowing that if we succeeded, they would succeed, but also that if we failed, they would fail, too.
Teachers are the public face of our communities, and work stoppages by educators can highlight the complexities of local autonomy, funding, and the economic conditions of our time.
JS: Where does the IWW in West Virginia go from here? Can you share some key short-term and long-term goals, not only as for teachers but beyond too?
MM: Short-term, we hope to push union leadership to not compromise on deals that their rank-and-file members reject. After all, it is the members that pay their salaries, so the members deserve to have a say in what is voted upon.
Long-term, we hope to grow the IWW in the state and in major areas where membership can be sustained. This strike has brought attention to issues we as an industrial union have been describing for over a century – the working class and the capitalist class have nothing in common. Business unions, while good in their own right, will make decisions for their members against their wishes. Since the IWW is entirely democratically run, we hope to raise awareness in the state about these ideas, how to continue organizing against capitalism and its effects, and connect the local struggles in our state with international struggles for worker solidarity.
JS: I’ll end with a broader question: what limits are worker struggles facing in the coming year, and what important possibilities are opening up for them? What do you think is needed for those struggles to become broader, more coordinated, and more powerful?
Currently, we are seeing electoral strategies touting the singular way that the working class can regain its rights in this state and in the country at large. The Democrats are pushing hard at midterms for a blue wave to bring a coalition of forces to Congress and state legislatures. However, in this state, we have a long history of conservative Democrats who differ little from the Republican Party. We do not wish to see this movement become simply another Wisconsin in 2011, where the working class struggle was diverted by establishment politicians into establishment politics. When that struggle ended, and we had lost, the momentum had been shattered. By not allowing our struggle to be co-opted, we can control the narrative, direct its course, and ultimately use direct action to gain our freedom.
The following report back was written days after the Unite The Right rally that took place in Charlottesville during August 11th and 12th of 2017. We have chosen to release our collective accounts on the 6th month anniversary of the torch rally because we believe that as anarchists and anti-fascists, it’s critical for us to remember our history and to learn from it.
Friday, arriving in Charlottesville our crew knew what to expect. For weeks we had been aware of the Alt-right’s plans to have a torch march the night before the Unite the Right Rally. Having known about the torch march, we had no choice but to oppose it. We feel that as anti-fascists, we don’t “save our energy for the big fight,” we must oppose fascism whenever and wherever it chooses to rear its ugly head. Other traveling counter protesters we networked with for the weekend events were made aware of the size of the demo we were expecting Friday night, and we consider it a tactical failure that so few fellow anti-fascists came to oppose the torch rally with us. To those who did, we hope we’ll you see on the barricades. We were aware of the level of danger of the situation, and decided it was best to try to plug into the area and see if the locals were planning anything, as well as figure out the most tactically logical way to oppose the march with so few numbers. We found out about a gathering at St. Paul’s Church for local radicals and progressives. In order to learn more and connect with the locals, two of our crew went to the church to find out more. The following is an account from that encounter in the words of our crew members who attended:
The church was conducting a non violent direct action training, and later hosting an interfaith sermon featuring Cornell West calling for 1000 faith leaders to oppose the hate driven Unite the Right Rally. We were able to meet with a local radical minister deeply involved with the struggle in C’ville, and discuss the churches worries, plans, and needs for the upcoming troubles. The good Reverend shared with us that he had personally been doxed, the church had received multiple threats, and white nationalists were attempting infiltration. There was a lot of concern about the Neo Nazi torchlight display of force that was in the works very, very, very nearby the doors of the church. We offered to assist with the physical security of the church. The Reverends response to paraphrase was,” Sure, we can use an extra set of hands. But we recognize and appreciate a diversity of tactics. Perhaps what is just as important is that the Nazi torchlight march is opposed and disrupted.” From there we were introduced to other radical actors on the ground. This was something that struck our delegation, some of us who have been involved in Anti-Fascist politics for a number of years thought,”Wow- this is the first time we’ve ever basically received a Reverends blessing for doing this kind of work.” A small number of us returned to the church in the evening to see where we could fit in and support the local community and the larger community of faith. Redneck Revolt and a number of other groups and individuals had set up a layered security perimeter to ensure the physical security of the church. The people and the church were at serious risk as it was standing room only, packed to full capacity with a fascist paramilitary force wielding fire as weapons across the street.
While members of our crew were in the church, the bulk of our group was scoping out the scene. As the nazi’s started to amass in Nameless Field, we quickly realized our numbers were nowhere near as high as we had hoped. We decided the best course of action would be to meet them at the statue of Thomas Jefferson, their end point, and disrupt their photograph. In total the number of people opposing the group of nazis was under 40. Around 15-20 anti-fascists circling the scene as well as 15-20 peaceful student demonstrators. As the march commenced, we got word that there were around 250-300 nazis on the field lighting their torches. The students linked arms and circled the statue, chanting and singing in protest. The small group of anti-fascists floated around them ready to fight and defend the protesters from the oncoming group of nazis snaking their way over and down the steps towards us. The nazis encircled us, chanting “Jews will not replace us, you will not replace us.” They came ready to kill any protesters, bearing not only torches, but also bottles of kerosene, cans of mace, and other miscellaneous weapons. Then they attacked, And we fought like hell.
That evening, we had noticed police lurking around, even having walked by a group of officers who greeted us, suspecting nothing wrong. While we were waiting for the nazis to arrive, A police vehicle was parked at the bottom of the steps across the street as well as one not more than 100 yards further. During the battle at least 4 officers stood less than 10 feet away and watched while unmasked student protesters were attacked by a violent, angry, torch wielding, mob. We are not in the least bit surprised. The entire concept of “police” supports the agenda of white supremacy, and with it the systematic murder of the oppressed. The battle was madness. Every member of our crew was pepper sprayed and beaten, with multiple people doused in kerosene. Nearly every protester was injured during the altercation, and a team of medics did their best to aid them during and immediately after the battle. However, even though we were heavily outnumbered we were successful in stopping them from taking the boastful picture they had planned. When the nazis began to lose momentum, and the police finally told everyone to disperse, about 50 of the nazis took a picture without torches that hasn’t since made it onto any social media because of how defeated they were. Around the same time, a group of between 35-40 racists dressed in the American Vanguard uniforms approached the steps of the church chanting “You will not replace us, Jews will not replace us” again. There was a call from Redneck Revolt and the Socialist Rifle Association to defend the church using the high ground and our smaller numbers managed to keep the marchers from reaching the church. The entire evening was a terrifying reminder of the level of growing seriousness in the alt-right movement. What was even more powerful, however, was what we managed to accomplish when a small number of people stood their ground and fought back.
Charlottsville revisited: moving forward in the antifascist struggle
We’ve come a long way since Charlottsville. In the days following these events, it felt like most of the world was flooded with a storm of media coverage, interviews, report backs, and solidarity actions. For a brief moment, one could almost feel like we had beaten the nazis back into their caves and we could once again focus on combating our real enemy, the State. However, as Charlottesville fades further into history, we are aware that this is not the case. Fascist activity around the so called United States is slowly picking back up, with a myriad of gatherings and speeches being coordinated to happen over the next few months. We feel that it is critical to analyze the tactical choices made in August, and how we can learn from them.
For us, one of the most glaring tactical missteps was that the general consensus from counter protestors that the torchlit march held by the nazis would be significantly smaller than it was, even when we had reliable intel regarding the numbers who planned to be present. As antifascists, we believe that we should never underestimate our opponents, especially in situations such as these. Solidarity is our most powerful weapon against the rising fascist creep and we need to make sure we use it. Moving forward, with the Alt-right conference (Detroit, MI March 4th-5th), the TPUSA regional conference (April 14-15th Chicago IL), The NSM meeting in Temple, Georgia (April 20th-21st) and the American Renaissance conference (Burns, TN April 27th-28th) on the horizon, we recognize that we must grow our networks of solidarity both within more clandestine circles and local communities. We’ve beaten them before and we’ll beat them again.
The solidarity actions that took place after Charlottesville were incredibly powerful. With these, antifascists around the world were able to not only support comrades fighting in Virginia, but to send a message to those in power and the paramilitary far right organizations that defend them: We will never stand down. We are everywhere. Once again, we want to analyze this level of solidarity and how it can be used to further support each other in the future. From our perspective, anarchists and antifascists in North America could do a better job of supporting both local and international struggles through solidarity actions. The fight against fascism goes far beyond street battles and we recognize that any struggle against domination anywhere, is our own. We want to send our love and support to every crew, friend, and stranger who supported the struggle in Charlottesville.
6 months later, we still feel the pain of Heather Heyer’s murder and with it, the burning rage we hold towards each and every fascist scumbag that’s infected our communities. With every action we take, we carry the memory of everyone who’s lost their lives in the struggle against fascism and in the fight for a better world. We have a long battle and a long road of healing ahead of us.
We’ve all heard the story before. People still tell it from the moldering dankness of their mom’s basement. It goes like this: George Soros contacts The Anarchist Antifa Supersoldiers and hands over bulging bags thick with gold in exchange for doing his bidding. Interesting story, right? Well, turns out plenty of shitholes on the internet tell it nearly every week. Since we can’t seem to convince anyone that we’re broke a a joke, and since everyone is calling everyone else a Russian spy, we thought it appropriate to celebrate our current predicament by weaving it all together in a simple and clear narrative. Contrary to popular reports, the international anarchist movement is beholden to neither George Soros or Vladimir Putin. All flags look the same to us. Every country is our homeland.
While the techno-overlords continued to blast the San Francisco Bay Area with their continuously stoked housing crisis, several individuals found it wise to begin burning down luxury housing developments in the city of Oakland. These fires began in 2016 and continued into 2017, each of them completely destroying their targets and costing ten of millions of dollars. The latest was in July when a luxury apartment block caught fire in the heart of Downtown Oakland. These arsons have been wisely left unclaimed by their authors. With the housing and homeless crisis plainly visible for all to see, the sight of burning luxury apartments is a simple message difficult to misinterpret.
Across the continent in Philadelphia, the local anarchist movement has grown quite strong in the past years and become popular for organizing and marching against Trump. Since the fall of 2012, local anarchists have printed their paper Anathema and chronicled events in their city and beyond. With housing costs rising and homelessness increasing, some individuals found it wise to sneak into some luxury developments and torch them to the ground. This arson took place in the Point Breeze neighborhood in 2017 and garnered wide attention in the local media. In another act of rebellion, a group of fifty people rampaged through a series of new developments and trashed everything that reeked of luxury. These two events happened within weeks of each other and sent a clear message against this new luxury development most liberals view as normal. Because of the fluid and toxic news cycle of our current era, few people remember these important activities outside of Philadelphia.
from Mainstream Media
CAMDEN – Two Christopher Columbus statues in Camden County were among several targeted in a statewide vandalism spree, officials say.
Vandals daubed paint on monuments to the Italian explorer in Cooper River Park, Pennsauken, and Farnham Park in Camden, said Dan Keashen, spokesman for the Camden County Police Department.
“My understanding is that this was a statewide event,” he said.
The vandalism was discovered Monday, and crews cleaned the Camden County statues Tuesday morning.
Statues also were struck in Atlantic and Bergen counties, said Dominick Burzichelli, president of New Jersey Order Sons of Italy in America.In Bergen County, red paint was smeared on a pair of Christopher Columbus statues in two parks in the city of Garfield on Sunday, authorities said. from Mainstream Media
A Christopher Columbus statue in Trenton’s Chambersburg neighborhood has become at least the fourth of the explorer’s likeness to be vandalized in New Jersey this week.
Lawmakers, officials and residents discussed the colonizer’s place in American history on Columbus Day in October.
Many lumped Columbus and his statues in with other historical figures that were being defaced across the country because of their ties to slavery and marginalization of certain racial groups.
A letter left at the statue in Trenton’s Columbus Park titled “F–k your new world” explains that the writers feel communities can be hurt by “progress that is quickly swallowing neighborhoods across the country.”
The note also says the group will be acting on Columbus statues throughout the state. It was signed, “Lovingly, NJ Anti-Facists.”
Harrisburg, PA – On January 3, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an Administrative Order halting all construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline. The natural gas liquids pipeline is being constructed by Sunoco Logistics, who in 2017 completed their corporate merger with Energy Transfer Partners. The pipeline begins at fracking fields in Scio, Ohio and crosses southern Pennsylvania to reach its terminus at refineries in Marcus Hook near Philadelphia, where the natural gas liquids will be exported by ship for use in the European plastics industry.
The decision by the DEP, which has historically sided overwhelmingly with oil and gas interests, comes after over 100 spills of drilling slurry have plagued construction along the pipeline route. Bentonite clay leaked from Mariner East 2 drill sites has damaged numerous streams and natural areas and tainted drinking water in private homes and public schools.
Horizontal directional drilling by Sunoco has also led to the “development of an expanding sinkhole that currently threatens at least two private homes and is within 100 feet of Amtrak’s Keystone Line”, according to PA State Senator Andy Dinniman.
State regulators cited a long series of “egregious and willful violations” committed by the pipeline operator while constructing Mariner East 2. The DEP website’s Compliance and Enforcement section for Mariner East 2 shows 33 Notices of Violation sent between May 9, 2017 and January 8, 2018 regarding drilling incidents in over 12 counties.
The order from the Pennsylvania DEP essentially freezes all construction along the pipeline route, with specific exceptions allowing anti-erosion measures at pipeline dig sites as well as maintenance of horizontal directional drill (HDD) equipment.
Last summer, Unicorn Riot visited Camp White Pine, a direct action encampment using tree-sits and other tactics to obstruct the pipeline route. After they were served with notice, Sunoco had seized a portion of their forest land under eminent domain, Ellen Gerhart and her daughter Elise decided to invite supporters to live on the easement and have erected several complex aerial blockades.
In summer 2017, we also traveled to Chester County, outside Philadelphia, where drilling by Sunoco contractors for Mariner East 2 had damaged local water tables, destroying and polluting local aquifers and private wells. We heard from affected residents, as well as members of neighborhood-based Safety Coalitions working to address safety concerns posed by Mariner East 2.
While driving through Chester County, we also discovered Sunoco was conducting horizontal directional drilling within feet of dozens of homes in an apartment complex, exposing residents to extreme drilling noise and toxic fumes from an open waste pit.
Open pit for storing Mariner East 2 drilling waste at Whiteland Apartments
While the legal shutdown of virtually all construction along the pipeline route has been hailed as a victory by many activists, others have also pointed out that the order does not stop the pipeline entirely, and merely points out issues Sunoco must address in order to proceed.
In solidarity with our comrades in Philadelphia and in solidarity with all our comrades battling the State, we have started off 2018 with the same guerrilla tactics perfected throughout 2017.
We are no longer willing to wait for the some great spark to cause the Revolution, nor can we afford to wait as our mental health depreciates with each new bit of bad news about our dying planet and all these warring nations fighting over blood and oil. Instead, we will turn every little act into an act of rebellion and refuse to submit to the State any longer.
Tonight we borrowed from our comrades in Philly and went out to jam up some bank ATMs. One could not find a better representative of the capitalist machine we seek to dismantle than the very cog which keeps the whole thing afloat, for without banks the State would have no way of determining “value” and stacking debt onto the backs of the impoverished while enriching the lucky few ad nauseam.
We attempted first to lodge rectangles of non-corrugated cardboard into the slots on the ATMs, but found that the machines wouldn’t accept our counterfeits. In a split second decision, we ransacked the closest big box grocery store for all the Visa gift cards we could stuff into our pockets. We cut off about a third of these, so as to make them that much harder to fish out of the machines, and processed to gallivant across Portland jamming every machine we came across. In total we managed to wreck almost 20 ATMs, although we shall have to see how long it takes the banks to repair them. This tactic could and should be implemented all winter long, and could even likely be performed in broad daylight without catching so much as a second look. In truth, humans are so programmed not to notice things anymore that even the cops that passed us by periodically didn’t so much as slow down or look over while passing.
In summary, cardboard works if you really work it but gift cards are easy to steal (since they must be loaded by the clerk before using, anybody who noticed probably thought we were the dumbest shoplifter ever), they easily slip into the machine, and nobody questions a person walking up to an ATM with a card in hand. We felt like the action was a huge success and we will definitely be adding it to our playbook. While our actions will not make the State crumble tomorrow, they allow us a bit of sanity and self-confidence which has been stolen from us. They remind us that the State is not as all knowing or all powerful as it would like you to believe. Most importantly, these low risk actions help us form stronger bonds with each other for when the actions we must take are no longer low risk and the consequences may be dire.
On September 19, 21, 24 and 27, 2017, we prisoners at Pennsylvania’s SCI-Frackville facility experienced four incidences with respect to the crisis of drinking toxic water. While this was not the first indication of chronic water problems at the prison, it seemed an indication that things were going from bad to worse. This round of tainted water was coupled with bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, sore throats, and dizziness by an overwhelming majority of the prisoner population exposed to this contamination. This cannot be construed as an isolated incident.
This notice appeared at the prison in August 2017, notifying prisoners of a water problem at SCI-Frackville
The SCI-Frackville staff passed out bottled spring water after the inmate population had been subjected to drinking the toxic contaminated water for hours without ever being notified via intercom or by memo to refrain from consuming the tap water. This is as insidious, as it gets!
SCI-Frackville’s administration, is acutely aware of the toxic water contamination crisis and have adopted an in-house patterned practice of intentionally failing to notify the inmate population via announcements and or by posting memos to refrain from tap water, until prisoners discover it for themselves through the above-mentioned health effects.
In general, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) knows it has a water crisis on it hands. The top agencies like the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and EPA know about this open-secret and have conspired to deliberately ignore most, if not all, of the prisoners’ official complaints. DEP has received four drinking water violations from the EPA. But the underlying problem is money, money, and more money.
Earlier this year, federal officials warned DEP that it lacked the staffing and resources to enforce safe drinking water standards. That could be grounds for taking away their role as the primary regulator of water standards, and would cost the state millions of dollars in federal funding.
In a letter dated December 30, 2016, EPA Water Protection Division Director Jon Capacasa stated, “Pennsylvania’s drinking water program failed to meet the federal requirement for onsite review of of water system operations and maintenance capability, also known as a sanitary survey.” He added, “Not completing sanitary survey inspections in a timely manner can have serious public health implications.”
One example in the City of Pittsburgh led to the closure of nearly two dozen schools and a boil-water order for 100,000 people. State environmental regulators had discovered low chlorine levels, after testing the city’s water as part of an ongoing investigation into its water treatment system. The city has also been having issues with elevated lead levels. The EPA also told DEP that the department’s lack of staff has caused the number of unaddressed Safe Drinking Water Act violations to go from 4,298 to 7,922, almost doubling in the past five years.
This leaves us with 43 inspectors employed, but, to meet the EPA mandates, we need at the least 85 full-time inspectors. That means Pennsylvania inspectors have double the workload, and this has resulted in some systems not being inspected. Logically, the larger systems get routine inspections, and systems that have chronic problems get inspected, but smaller and rural system like ours may not be because we are the minority that society doesn’t care about. Persona non grata!
To top it off, Frackville is in Schuylkill County, near a cancer cluster of the rare disease known as Polycythemia Vera (PV). While there is not definitive research on PV, it is believed to be environmental in origin and could be water borne. There’s no telling how many of us may have contracted the mysterious disease caused by drinking this toxic-contaminated water for years without being medically diagnosed and treated for this disease.
The DOC refuses to test the inmate population, in spite of the on-going water crisis. What would happen, if the inmate population would discover that they have contracted the disease PV?! Obviously, this wouldn’t be economically feasible for the DOC medical department to pay the cost to treat all inmates who have been discovered to have ill-gotten the water borne disease.
Many Pennsylvania tax-payers would be surprised to know that our infrastructure is older than Flint, Michigan’s toxic water crisis. Something is very wrong in our own backyard and the legislative body wants to keep a tight lid on it. But how long can this secret be contained before we experience an outbreak of the worst kind.
Silence, no more, it is time to speak. I could not stress the sense of urgency enough. We need to take action by notifying our Pennsylvania State Legislatures and make them accountable to the tax-paying citizens and highlight the necessary attention about Pennsylvania’s water crisis to assist those of us who are cornered and forced to drink toxic, contaminated water across the State Prisons.
If you want to obtain a goal you’ve never obtained, you have to transcend by doing something you’ve never done before. Let’s not procrastinate, unify in solidarity, take action before further contamination becomes inevitable. There’s no logic to action afterwards, if we could have avoided the unnecessary catastrophe, in the first place.
Let’s govern ourselves in the right direction by contacting and filing complaints to our legislative body, DEP, EPA, and their higher-ups, etc. In the mountains of rejection we have faced from these agencies as prisoners, your action could be our yes; our affirmation that, though we may be buried in these walls, we are still alive.
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After initially receiving this article from Bryant, this update came in: On Oct 26, 2017, at or about 8 p.m., Frackville shut down the Schuylkill County Water Municipality’s water source and switched over to this facilities water preserve tank. Staff here, indicated the Schuylkill Municipality was conducting a purge to the repaired pipelines, etc.
Then on Oct. 27, a or about 11 a.m., Frackville’s staff passed out individual gallons of spring water due to the dirty, toxic, contaminated water flowing from our preserve tank water supply. Here we go again!
More about the author, Bryant Arroyo, can be found on PrisonRadio.org. Additional sources for this article came from State Impact (A reporting project of NPR member stations) and the Washington Post.
Earlier this week we took our first steps against the Mariner East pipeline in Pennsylvania, U$A. On the eve of the fall equinox, we approached several excavators and a flat bed truck on an active ME2 construction site in Media, PA and filled their fuel tanks and other liquid receptors with sand and sugar. After removing the fuel tank lid (there are diagrams about how to do this online), we recommend removing the filter just beneath it before pouring in these abrasives, for maximum damage to the whole machine, and being careful not to spill or leave other traces which would tip off the workers inspecting the machines the following morning. Human-caused ecological collapse and mass extinction are upon us, and we feel we must push ourselves to escalate the fight against it. We take this action in solidarity with Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya in Iowa, and struggles against ecological devastation and settler colonial violence everywhere.
[Philly Anti-Cap note: After being contacted by several concerned groups mentioned in this submission we have removed mention of their groups from this submission.]
Back in June 2017, Camp White Pine experienced an uptick in attempted infiltration. SOME entity sent no less than three infiltrators to the Huntingdon area who used various tactics to try to scheme their way into the movement.
One of them called herself “Aly Patrick.” She made contact with a local person who had been prominently in support of the Gerharts’ efforts to #StopETP since last year while that local was working in a public place. She befriended them, claiming she had moved to the area because of the lake, and because her online job allowed her freedoms. She asked a lot of questions, but couldn’t even answer the question of who her specific “online” employer was. She came to public rallies and was incredibly enthusiastic. However, she strategically avoided cameras at those events.
“Aly” claimed not to use any social media platforms. We found a picture of her anyway, taken at one of the rallies she attended. She was last seen driving a white sedan with Virgina plates and gave a phone number with a Tennessee area code. Please share with your networks, and help make sure “Aly” never succeeds in infiltrating any water protector movements.
PA Alt-Knights At Unite the Right providing security for Augustus Invictus (center with tie)PA Alt Knights 2nd in Command Jeff Thomas discussing providing security for eugenics promoting, holocaust denying, fascist politician Augustus Invictus. Apparently participating in a Nazi rally that ended in a murder was “a pleasure.”
As our readers are no doubt aware, this “Unite the Right Rally” was a disaster for the Alt-Right and led to the death of Anti-Racist demonstrator Heather Heyer as well as multiple hate crimes and assaults by Neo-Nazi and Far Right rally participants. In the fallout, many of the rallies participants and organizers have turned on each other and/or distanced themselves from the Alt-Right.
One group that seems to have very few regrets is the PA Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights (FOAK). Their members were observed by Anti-Fascists on the ground in Charlottesville, and confirmed through social media, providing security for Augustus Invictus (real name Austin Gillespie), Florida Senate Candidate, and total fucking cretin. Invictus was formerly a member of the Libertarian party, but even a party comprised almost entirely of Fedoras could not stomach Invictus’ Holocaust denial, advocacy of Eugenics, use of Fascist and White Nationalist talking points and imagery, and participation in animal sacrifice. This led to several conflicts within the party that ended with Invictus switching his affiliation to The GOP.
Most of these “Kekistanis” were spotted a few months ago trolling the Refuse Fascism rally at Dilworth Plaza. While these jerkoffs might seem like harmless fools, the murder of Heather Heyer goes to show just how dangerous and unstable the pathetic types attracted to the Alt-Right can be, and those that protect and enable them will not be spared their share of the blame.
We’re sure that the FOAK will describe this as “guilt by association,” a legal term appropriated by Nazi sympathizers to deflect and distract from criticisms. Guilt by association is supposed to be in reference to criminal charge having no evidence other than “this guy knew that guy.” It’s not intended to excuse actual behavior, like attending rallies or defending Fascists, nor to insulate someone from the social consequences of doing so. Why exactly shouldn’t someone feel guilty or be judged by others for rallying and defending Neo-Nazis and Klansmen? That’s rhetorical, FOAK.
Spotted at the Unite the Right Rally:
Ellsworth George Lewis III
Ellsworth George Lewis III,, head of PA Alt-Knights, at Unite the RightEllsworth George Lewis III at Trump’s Inauguration
Despite claiming on social media that he would not be attending at one point, Ellsworth George Lewis was indeed present at UTR.
In a video posted by Youtube user “Khaos Kekmander Khrone” Ellsworth can be seen milling around nervously in a Bloodsport T-shirt. I guess because he’s a tough underground martial artist (lol)?
Ellsworth works at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, PA. Taylor (part of the Crozer Keystone Health System) continues to employ Ellsworth despite his continued association with White Nationalist, Far Right and Neo-Nazi individuals and groups. Contact their public relations department (link above) and let them know how the public feels about that decision. He lives in Prospect Park, PA on Lincoln Ave.
Jeff Thomas
Jeff Thomas at Unite the Right
Present with Ellsworth was his “second in command” Jeff Thomas.
Jeff Thomas
Jeff Thomas, was last seen in Philly repeating “I’m not a nazi” over and over while hanging with “Illegal Aryan” and American Vanguard member Daniel Reardon, who was also in Charlottesville.
Apparently hanging with Nazis suited Jeff Thomas fine because he was up to his neck in them at UTR.
In this video (at around 16 min) you can see he even has a brief moment of clarity and weakly comments that the guy carrying a swastika flag is “making them look bad.” No shit, Jeff. Racism and Fascism is a bad look.
Despite this comment, Jeff seemed to have no desire to exercise his first amendment rights to take a vocal stand against Nazism while surrounded by Nazis. How strange, since they love free debate and expression. Was he fearing for his safety should he object to open Nazism being the face of the rally he was attending? Certainly his associates are not violent individuals like the “evil Antifa” he’s so scared of, so one can only assume his only issue with Nazis was that they were making him “look bad,” and it wasn’t worth it to him to argue.
So this guy will plan and recruit to troll Communists, but can’t be bothered to loudly state opposition to Nazism when it’s right in front of him, despite his claims that he views them both as “collectivism.” Cowardliness, thy name is Jeff Thomas.
After UTR, Thomas took to social media for damage control, again denying any wrongdoing and reaffirming his belief that the greatest fight he could be undertaking at this historical moment is to protect the Free Speech rights of Neo-Nazis.
In a rather hilarious thread on his FB page, Thomas makes the following claim:
What came out in the thread was ample evidence of his ties and sympathies for Nazism/Racism/Bigotry.
He refuses to answer this person’s question outright:
Good question, Jeff
He then goes on to claim that Augustus Invictus is a “great friend” who is “not afraid to debate”
Invictus is then tagged in on the thread by a friend of Thomas’ and shows off his excellent debating skills when one of the commentators literally quotes his own Holocaust denial.
See, at this point in a conversation where someone is accusing you of denying the Holocaust most people would probably just affirm that the Holocaust happened. But Austin Gillespie is too great a debater for such an easy route. Instead, he invokes the supreme debate strategy of “people who think different things than me, their opinions don’t matter.”
But if a regular old racist, sexist, holocaust-denying capitalist isn’t proof positive enough, leave it to New Jersey Neo- Nazi Frank Marlowe (check out the public content for plenty of evidence of Marlow’s nazi views) to bomb into the thread to recommend to Jeff that he just lean into it and become a Fascist:
But how do we even know Marlow is a Fasc-
Nvm
It really is a hilarious thread we recommend reading for as long as he keeps it public. Just keep in mind Thomas is friends with many far right and White Nationalist figures who may be monitoring the thread so use good security should you decide to comment.
Thomas launches the same old “who, me?” routine while well-meaning friends try and talk sense into him about what it means to participate in a movement regardless of your alleged actual principles. We get it Jeff: you don’t think people should have to share. What we don’t understand is why you think that is a greater principle than human equality or freedom.
Seems as though Thomas is too much of a narcissist to really self-examine his role in helping create the circumstances in which Heather Heyer died. Even if he did nothing else, had attended no rallies earlier, had not helped organize and recruit for FOAK, insulated Nazis like Daniel Reardon from Anti-Fascists, etc. and ONLY provided security for Invictus, consider this Jeff: what if the speakers had been unable to get security and been forced to cancel UTR before it began? Heather Heyer would be alive today.
Movements are the sum of individuals. Everyone that participates, whoever minor, shares some portion of the credit/blame. Throwing up your hands, pointing fingers, or hiding behind the constitution will not wash the blood off your hands.
Deborah Nemeth
Deb Nemeth at Unite the Right
Another “not Nazi” attending the largest Nazi rally in the U.S. on decades was Deborah Nemeth.
Nemeth arrived with the Kekistanis but was seperated and can be seen in this picture leaving Emancipation Park in between the Traditionalist Worker’s Party and Hammerskins contingents, both open Neo-Nazi groups, and shortly before the group of Klansmen that included Richard Preston, who was arrested for firing a gun towards protesters.
Nemeth has shown no remorse or signs of leaving the movement since UTR. She’s all over the thread on Jeff Thomas’ page mentioned above “liking” all the right wing and apologist posts and arguing with anyone expressing disgust at their involvement in the largest Neo-Nazi rally in this country in decades.
We would like to encourage our readers to contact Nemeth’s employers and let them know that their employee is a willing participant in White Nationalist and Neo-Nazi movements and to ask them to fire her immediately.
Justin and Colin Emerle
Justin Emerle at Unite the RightColin Emerle at UTRJustin Emerle trying to blend into the Refuse Fascism rally but after Antifa started filming him he bounced.
Justin Emerle, aka “Hipster Douche Fascist” briefly attempted to infiltrate the Refuse Fascism crowd a few months back at their rally but dipped out as soon as Antifa began shadowing him around Dilworth. At the time he claimed to be “wasn’t with them” (meaning the Alt-Knights) and was just “checking things out.”
The Emerle brothers sometimes perform as the band Echo Orbiter in the Philly area, though have been on various periods of inactivity the past few years.
Justin and Colin Emerle in an older pic. Note the matching skull tattoo on Justin’s left wrist. Also the fact that these guys are aging hipster douchebags.Emerele and Lewis discussing Charlottesville. Guess Lewis decided to go after all.
Justin Emerele is even less remorseful than Jeff Thomas, preferring to argue online about semantics or his being offended at being called racist than address the fact that he was rallying with Nazis and Klan, which btw is a pretty fucking racist thing to do. He is repping Augustus Invictus’ website The Revolutionary Conservative as his FB profile photo.
Eh… no thanks.
Justin Emerle is listed as living on New Street in Westville, NJ.
This is our first time spotting Colin at a far right event, but that’s likely because we didn’t know to look for them, or they were hiding out, possibly as a scout.
This Nazi Kid
Nazi kid at UTR
This Nazi Kid was also trolling at the Refuse Fascism rally. Despite adamantly pointing out that he “wasn’t white” (his mother, who appeared to be South Asian, was waiting for him nearby) this little guy claimed to support the Traditionalist Worker’s Party and claimed “Hitler did nothing wrong.”
Despite his not-so-aryan heritage, This Nazi Kid was welcomed into the Neo-Nazi contingent of UTR, marching along in a white polo shirt along with Vanguard America, the Neo-Nazi group that the murderer of Heather Heyer was also marching with.
Commando Barbie Alt-Knight
This guy was with the PA Alt-Knights contingent and seemingly very eager to fight Antifa from behind police barricades but demurred from actually backing any of it up. Anyone with information regarding this winner or any of the scum who went to UTR should send it our way.
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Let’s pretend for a second we believe that PA FOAK really believe that they are not racists or fascists. Excuse the unappetizing metaphor, but essentially what Ellsworth Lewis, Jeff Thomas and the rest of PA FOAK are doing is smearing shit on themselves, and then when someone complains about the smell, saying “But we don’t have any body odor! It’s not US, it’s the SHIT that smells!”
It’s not any less disgusting and doesn’t mean you’re entitled to keep your jobs, friends, be served by local businesses, or be free of people pointing out that you smell like shit. Free association cuts both ways you fake-ass “libertarians.”
We have every intention to hold PA FOAK and every other group/individual who attended UTR on the Fascist side accountable.
Some more pics of the PA FOAK crew at UTR:
Love and Solidarity to all Anti-Racists injured in Charlottesville, the family and friends of Heather Heyer, and all those taking a stand against the Fascists and their allies. Rage to our enemies.
Neo-Nazi record label and distro house Micetrap Records is closing up shop, according to it’s owner.
For over 20 years, Micetrap Records has been distributing Neo-Nazi, White Nationalist, Neo-Confederate and other Fascist music, writings and clothing using a P.O. box in Maple Shade, N.J..
Micetrap was (to the best of our knowledge) a one-man operation for it’s entire run. Stephen Wiegand of Cherry Hill, NJ would distribute bands such as Skrewdriver and Bound for Glory as well as old issues of National Vanguard magazines and writings by Nazi Terrorist David Lane. Basically all manner of Fascist paraphernalia.
Despite the immeasurable damage done by Weigand over the years, he flew under the radar for much of his career due to his insistence that he was no ideologically motivated, his willingness to make ridiculous legal threats when he was exposed and other more pressing concerns demanding the time and energy of Anti-Racists and Anti-Fascists in the area.
This changed a few years ago with Antifa Philadelphia exposed Wiegand’s home address and description of his cars and posted them on our site. This eventually led to Weigand’s lawyers threatening WordPress and them caving into pressure and shutting down our old blog. We rebounded nicely, though, launching on noblogs and then eventually our own current site and keeping the Wiegand info up the entire time.
So in the wake of Charlottesville, with a huge upsurge in Anti-Fascist sentiment among people in the U.S., and his info already being made public by Antifa, and Philly Inquirer reporters showing up at his doorstep, Wiegand (allegedly) decided to call it quits.
From a statement on the Micetrap site:
“8/20/2017 – Micetrap Distribution will be soon closing down.
After many years of struggling to figure out the best way to shut down this business, it is with a very heavy heart that I have decided that the time has now come for Micetrap Distribution LLC. to close.
I am proud to say that I built this business from practically nothing and formed a company that I believed stood for everything our 1st Amendment was established for. But in doing this, I have endured personal issues and sacrifices that very few would have been strong enough to endure. But, I can no longer continue on with the passion and enthusiasm that made the business the success that it became. I have always been attacked from all sides of the spectrum and this is not a retreat or surrender, instead it is my attempt at finding my own self peace again. When my business is gone, the violence will still continue between the left and the right, but I will know in my heart that I am not associated with it in any way. I am going out on my own terms while sales are increasing at a rapid pace, simply to pursue a happier, less stressful life that also spares my friends and the neighborhood I love.
After the recent issues in Charlottesville, Virginia, it has forced me to take a long, deep look into myself. And after speaking with friends and neighbors, I can no longer be aligned with the violence (from all sides) that I have always been against.
I will continue processing all orders as I am going through the closing down process. No customers need to worry, if you are able to place an order, it will be completed. But once the shutting down process is complete, I will be completely taking down all websites and domains. I have already removed all social media pages and the streaming radio website. I don’t have any idea where the inventory will go or what will happen with the countless domain names, but over the 20 years, I feel I have done everything possible to fight for the freedom of speech that means everything to me. But now it’s time for me to focus on my own spiritual peace.
I pray that this country I love with all of my heart can heal it’s divides.”
It is worth noting the Wiegand is still taking orders of his repulsive merchandise, despite claiming to have had some vague change of heart. Wiegand also parrots the ridiculous assertions by Donald Trump that Neo-Nazi demonstrators and Anti-Racists in Charlottesville were somehow morally equivalent.
We have no intention of removing Wiegand’s information from our site as it stands. Wiegand is running or involved in running several “Anti-Antifa” blogs and SM accounts that have engaged in doxxing of real or presumed Antifa and has not engaged in any of the behaviors we would classify as evidence of a legitimate change of heart. Stephen Wiegand has been nothing if not duplicitous for the entirety that he’s been around WP scenes. There is no guarantee that this is a legitimate shutdown or that it will last.
For the moment though, we celebrate what seems like a victory in one of our longest running campaigns and recommit ourselves to go harder to ensure that no one can operate a business like Micetrap for 20 years with nearly no consequences and total anonymity.
Eternal War on the Hitler Youth and their Shitty Record Salesmen…
We’ve written about Ellsworth George Lewis on the site before, but we’ve learned he was recently appointed as the leader of the Pennsylvania Alt-Knights.
In response, Anti-Fascists around the state and region are launching a push to get Lewis fired from his job at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, PA.
Take a few minutes and call the hospital at (610) 595-6000 and let them know what you think about them employing racist misogynists like Ellsworth George Lewis.
Here’s a good example of what might want to say when you call.
Hello,
You are currently employing Ellsworth George Lewis III, who was recently appointed to be the Pennsylvania Commander and State Point of Contact of the Pennsylvania Alt-Knights. Alt-Knights are a group of alt-right fighting squads and has been featured in Hate Watch by The Southern Poverty Law Center.
Lewis has been in the news several times in the last few months for his involvement with the “Kekistani Movement,” which has involved Lewis carrying a modified version of a Nazi battle flag around the country and participating in various far right and fascist rallies while looking for confrontation with protesters. The “Kek” flag also has added elements from 3%er militia groups and Ku Klax Klan imagery. Lewis intends to be in Charlottesville this coming weekend to participate in the “Unite the Right” rally being organized by Neo-Nazi and other far right groups including the National Socialist Movement and American Vanguard. Lewis’ activities should be cause of grave concern for you and represent a threat to your staff and patients, and do to his recent move to a leadership position within the Alt-Knights I would like to see him terminated immediately.
Lewis announcing his leadership of Alt-Knights
Ellsworth George Lewis III with Kek Flag at InaugurationEllsworth (left) with other PA Alt Knights demonstrating against an Anti-Trump rally in Philadelphia. Lewis is speaking with Daniel Reardon, aka “Illegal Aryan,” the Neo-Nazi who has been posting vile racist flyers in West Philly.
