ALERT: National Socialist Movement Meet and Greet to be Held in Northern PA on Saturday 8/13

from Philly Antifa

ulysses flyer

Capture
According to the NSM’s website and several event websites they plan to hold a “Meet and Greet” event in Ulysses, PA this Saturday at 4pm.

The event is being hosted by Daniel and Sabrina Burnside, who live at 406 State Street in Ulysses. Their house is not easy to miss at it proudly displays a Swastika flag outside.

Daniel works as a wood sculptor under the name “Lion’s Den Carvings” (link is to a video from a “Carving Rondevous” that his work was featured at. At 4:30 in the vid) and also does Tattoos out of his home as “Lion’s Den Tattoo & Piercing

The NSM recently held a disastrous attempt at a “White Lives Matter” rally in Buffalo, NY and were routed by local Anti-Racists and Anti-Fascists. Ulysses is only about 2.5 hours from Buffalo, but it is unknown whether The Burnsides were in attendance.

#SayHerName Graffiti

from Facebook


#‎SayHerName‬

ALERT: Counter the Westboro Baptist Church at the Mazzoni Center 7/26

from Philly Antifa

When: 7/26/2016 @ 1:45 PM
Where: Mazzonni Center, 809 Locust Street Philly
What: Confront the Homophobic, Sexist and Racist Westboro Baptist Church and let them know they aren’t welcome in our city.

The Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to protest outside The Mazzoni center briefly during the DNC. Several counter protests have been called, and we are encouraging Anti-Fascists in the city to take an hour to tell them to fuck right off.

The Mazzoni center has provided cheap and free medical services to LGBTQ people in the city since 1979. That is something that should be celebrated; not protested. Join us in letting Westboro Baptist Church that they aren’t welcome in Philly (or anywhere) and that no one is intimidated or impressed by their circus act.

Queers Bash Back.

Antifa Philadelphia

Frank Rizzo Mural in Philly Tagged With Anti-Police Graffiti

from Mainstream Media

In 2012, the Italian Market’s giant mural of former Mayor Frank Rizzo was tagged with graffiti calling him a fascist. Today there’s a new tag that says, “F*** Racist Pigs. End Cops 4eva.”

Rizzo was mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 until 1980. Prior to that, he spent four years as Police Commissioner. His entire career was controversial, and many people—not just the painters who recently vandalized the mural—believe he had racist and fascist tendencies.

Black DNC Resistance March against Police Terrorism and State Repression

from Facebook

The Philadelphia Coalition for REAL Justice presents:
Black DNC Resistance March against the Capitalist & Racist Government: We Have Nothing To Lose But Our Chains!!

The Democratic Party has consistently betrayed their promises to the Black community and the 2016 presidential election is not going to be any different. The presidential election is the largest electoral process in the country, and the Black community can no longer watch a few control the lives of many. Black communities have been underfunded for centuries. Black communities are under siege with militarized police terrorism, assault and murder; public schools are underfunded and do not properly educate our children; economic development means black displacement through gentrification; prison privatization and the school to prison pipeline; raising the minimum wage to a living standard; the right to proper access of quality healthcare, food, shelter and the essential means of life; protection and inclusion of the LGBTQ community, as well, the releasing of all political prisoners and the right to self-determination and control of our communities. This can only come from the unification of our voices, understanding the intersectional connections, education and support of one another and not the democratic process.

Philadelphia is a historically Black city, as well as the birth of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Both documents have kept the Black community subjugated. The American political system was organized and created by white men who supported and upheld the enslavement of Black people. These documents continue to function under the order of white supremacy and neo-liberal reformists politics. Black liberation cannot occur in a reformist society. White supremacy must be abolished and Black liberation must become a priority.

[from 2pm July 26 to 6pm July 28 at Broad & Diamond St]

Graffiti: Fuck 12 RIP Alton Sterling Fuck 12

from Instagram

#RIPAltonSterling #Fuck12 #blacklivesmatter #destroywhitesupremacy
from Instagram

#Fuck12

Black Lives Matter & RIP Philando Castile FTP

from Instagram

Seen in North Philly #repost @mrgrtnolan #blacklivesmatter #americawasnevergreat #amerikkkawasnevergreat

from Instagram

Seen in South Philly #rip #philandocastile #ftp #repost @randonzachary

Graffiti: RIP Alton Sterling Fuck White Comfort

from Facebook

West Philly, July 8th 2016

Graffiti: Death to White Supremacy! FTP

from Facebook

SW Philly.. 49th & Chester..

Police Intimidation Last Night in Lead Up to DNC

from Facebook

“The attack on comrade Rufus Farmer last night was nothing short of the legal snatching of Blk/Brown bodies that occur daily in our communities under police occupation/militarization especially, when recording their interactions. They proved our bodies are nothing to be respected, and we’re just commodities to create more capital in an oppressive system that wants nothing more than to see our blood distributed into the soil like fertilizer.
Rufus Farmer is guilty of nothing short of living while Blk, breathing while Blk, walking while Blk, speaking while Blk, and demanding his freedom, while Blk.
The officer stated to him, “I’m going to take you somewhere there isn’t any cameras.” Which was the back of the precinct, pulled him to his knees on the croncrete, shoved his knee into his chest and throat area, and broke his toe, gave him a bogus citation for $300 and parking ticket for allegedly leaving his car unattended. They stated to him the knew he wasn’t a criminal because they know he’s a “professional protester,” what ever that means.
This happened at the hands of the 25th district, which is one of the two most violent districts in this city, as cited in the 2015 DOJ report, and they lived up to that reputation. 
The Kenney administration will not get away with criminalizing citizens with this citation act and the 25th district will see the people’s response, we must all stand in unity when anyone in our activist community have been assaulted, as we know they are the voices of the voiceless, and they speak words that empower all those in hearing distance. The Brown community thanked our comrades for their voices and have already stated they will stand with us in court, with the video footage they have.
And lastly, Rufus Farmer was wearing a Free Mumia Abu-Jamal shirt!”

“Nazi Cabbie” Gabriel Diaz Caught Attempting to Infiltrate Antifa

from Philly Antifa

Gabriel Diaz: National Socialist Infiltrator and Stooge for the National Socialist Movement

About a year ago, Anti-Fascists around the country started seeing a man calling himself Mohammed coming out to demonstrations against Neo-Nazis and Klan as well as Anti-Fascist/Leftist events and conferences and trying to get involved in the Anti-Fascist movement.

“Mohammed” has been busy the past year, travelling from his home in the Bronx to places like Ohio, Georgia and here in Philly trying to make connections with Antifa and extract personal information from them. He managed to get a couple phone numbers and promptly handed them over to the National Socialist Movement (NSM). The NSM’s “head of security” Mike Scholer, then began making harassing and threatening phone calls to those Antifascists.

Fortunately, Scholer is about as smart as the rest of the NSM and couldn’t help but let certain clues slip during his calls that allowed Anti-Facists to realize not only that there was in infiltrator in their midst, but that the only person it could have been was “Mohamed.”

From there it wasn’t hard to figure out that “Mohammed” was actually Gabriel Diaz, also known as “The Nazi Cabbie,” who grabbed headlines 2 years ago when he suspended for 30 days after being photographed driving his cab around Manhattan wearing a Swastika Armband. Diaz got his license back after the suspension, but it is unknown whether he is still working as a cab driver or not.

Fascist bands’ Van Wrecked in Philly

from It’s Going Down

On Wednesday, March 30, the neofolk music tour “Operation Equinox 2016,” sponsored by extreme right blog Heathen Harvest, held its Philly show date. Held at a small former convent called The Convent in a deeply creepy, almost entirely white neighborhood that was filled with blue porch lights and cameras on residences, the show ended prematurely with the arrival of the cops, presumably called in by the cop-loving neighbors. While the cops were inside the show only a block away, a small mob of reckless vandals attacked the touring bands’ van, slashing its tires, painting the windshield and sides, and destroying several of its windows.

It’s disgusting and ridiculous that these bands even got booked at all. Fascist ideas should have no place anywhere, including in DIY music scenes. Yet this isn’t the first time we hear about crypto-fascist bands playing outside of the typical racist skinhead milieus, veiling white supremacist views in more sympathetic counter-cultural words and aesthetics. Wherever fascism rears its head, whether wearing swastikas and boots or studded vests and torn jeans, our reaction will always be the same: No Pasaran!

Shut Down Confederate Flag Day Rally Reportback

from Central PA Antifa

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

March 5th was declared a national day of honor for the Confederate battle flag by those who would seek to rewrite the history of the American Civil War to present the South as benign defenders of the nebulous idea of “States Rights”. To this end, the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans announced that they intended to conduct a ceremony honoring that symbol of oppression at the Eternal Peace Light Memorial in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Far from being an antiquated symbol relegated to the dustbin of history, the Confederate flag remains an inflammatory representative of the white supremacist and nationalist movements, and so anti-fascists in Central PA, Maryland and Eastern PA mobilized to counter the ceremony and provide a response to the erroneous argument that “the flag is about heritage, not hate.” In addition to Antifa elements, a local professor of history and Africana at Gettysburg College also coordinated a counter-rally that was attended by less militant anti-racist elements, and was staged in conjunction with the 15-20 individuals who arrived already dressed in black bloc.

The rally and counter-rally both secured permits from the National Parks Service permitting them to gather between 2:00 and 4:00 pm on Saturday. However, by 1:00 that afternoon many of the “flaggers” as well as the counter-protesters were already staging up and beginning to occupy the spaces designated for them by the Parks Service. These spaces were roped off by steel barricades and yellow rope, and there was a 50-75 yard “free speech zone” that the Parks Service Police explained was for “tourists”. They warned that no attendees from either side would be permitted to cross this neutral area under threat of arrest; however many Confederate flaggers were later permitted to do so, although several counter-protesters attempted to cross afterwards to highlight the double standards of enforcement and prove a point. These counter-protesters were met with immediate police responses, threatened with implied threats of arrests and turned back aggressively by the police.

The flag day ceremony was well-attended, with some estimates ranging to 200 people during their event. The counter-protest was slightly smaller, but made up for that by being significantly louder and very vocally aggressive in an effort to disrupt and disturb the racists. Displaying both black and black-and-red flags, as well as banners with slogans like “Northern Aggression” and “Your Heritage IS Hate”, the multi-regional coordinated efforts of the anti-fascists proved successful in drowning out the podium speakers with chants and megaphones, despite the large distance of separation between the two groups. The megaphones were utilized to great advantage by the counter-protesters, and even national media reported that the flag rally speakers were not able to be heard during their ceremony due to the continuous noise.

The flag day ceremony ended somewhat early in response to the constant chanting, shouting and disruption from the anti-fascist counter-protesters. The staging area for the counter-protest was directly in front of the parking lot and the road leading away from the monument, therefore all of the confederate apologists were forced to walk or drive past a victorious and enthusiastic crowd cheering them on as they were leaving. This resulted in some heated verbal exchanges as well as threats of physical violence from the Confederates, which were met with invitations to come to the other side of the line. Several face-to-face confrontations and shouting matches broke out, but the Park Police were quick to step in and maintain order. Predictably, the police were much less aggressive about preventing the flaggers from harassing counter-protesters on their way out, as well as enforcing the boundaries established before either protest began.

Because of this, counter-protesters held the ground until the majority of the flaggers had departed, and then arranged group escorts to provide security for all participants returning to their vehicles to ensure their safety and show solidarity. Although outnumbered approximately two-to-one, the four groups that allied were successful in their efforts to disrupt and confront racists in an area where racism is dominant. This shows that no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the setting, racism can be confronted and shut down with the right tactics and organization. Fascism should never be allowed a platform to spread racist and nationalist views, and every effort should be made to meet them in the streets whenever and wherever they decide to show up.

ANTI-FASCIST ALERT: Racist, Xenophobic “3%ers” Rallying in Philly Tomorrow 3/5/16

from Philly Antifa

When: March 6th, 2016
When: 12:30pm
Where: 6th and Market

This Saturday, the Three Percenters — a militia grouping with close ties to group of white supremacists, right wing ideologues and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists that recently occupied a wildlife refuge on stolen Native land in Oregon — are coming to Philadelphia and 21 other cities across the country. They will gather in front of regional FBI offices to “avenge the death of Finicum,” the man who was shot by the FBI as the occupation ended, and to gather strength for their cause.

The circumstances of Finicum’s, or the fact that law enforcement in the U.S. clearly has been given a license to kill under any circumstances aside, this group still must be opposed whenever mobilizing in our city. In fact, their attempting to organize in Philly under the auspices of opposition to state violence is even more of a threat because it makes their group seem more relevant and reasonable (as well as media savvy) due to all of all the recent momentum in the BLM movement and other movements against state violence.

Reportback from Antifascist Demo Against “Americans First”

from It’s Going Down

On Saturday, February 6, 2016, a measly 15 self-proclaimed “patriots” from Americans First, a quasi-fascist group, held an “End Sharia Law in the US” rally. This is the latest in a string of rallies that Americans First have held in Central PA. In January, they held a rally outside of Church World Services, a refugee resettlement organization. In response, over 250 people in Lancaster came out to let Americans First know that hate will not be tolerated in their town.

In Reading, about 100 antifascists and others came out to deliver the same message. Despite having a slightly smaller crowd than in Lancaster, the Reading event was much more militant. The group took up a position immediately in front of the “patriots” and effectively shut down the entire event, chanting “Say it Loud, Say it Clear, Refugees are welcome here” and shouting down any attempts the fascists made to spout their bigoted views. Shortly after the event started the antifascists were joined by Make The Road, a Latino rights organization, who marched in to the sound of drums. Make The Road members delivered short speeches, played music, and sang songs for about an hour, making it very clear that they were not afraid of their racist, xenophobic opponents and would continue their social justice mission.

Despite the heated exchange between the fascists and antifascists, only one shoving match broke out, which elicited no response from the local police who were posted up on each end of the block. At one point, one of the “patriots”, a former military member and current Biker, President Dawg, in a bold move, stepped up looking to fight an antifascist who had damaged his fragile ego. Instead of backing down, the antifascists stepped up as a single unit to challenge this fascist thug, and he backed down. Antifa shut down the fascist Americans First, the second time they have been shut down in as many months. The fight is not over!

Nobody is Illegal!

Refugees Welcome!

Fascists and Racists Out!

Take Away From Reading, PA:

The rally in Reading, much like the rally in Lancaster, drew a lot of support in favor of refugees and in support of the Muslim population. However, Reading was much more militant than Lancaster was. This was due to the organizing efforts of antifascists that promoted militant tactics instead of leaving planning in the hands of the progressive church leaders as was done in Lancaster. It’s essential to squash any potential fascist organizing when it is small, before it grows in size and confidence to carry out physical assaults on their victims. Organizing antifascist resistance is extremely important!

There was little opportunity to reach out to the surrounding area. The location chosen by the fascists was in an area that received little foot traffic and was shielded from most car traffic. Greater outreach allows the spread of antifascist ideas and is able to combat the narrative pushed by these hate groups.

Additionally, we have begun an informal relationship with the members of the other organizations that joined us and will continue to build on those through participation with their events and campaigns.

Central PA Antifa can be found here.