Gender Fascist “Mom’s for Liberty” Conference Met with Resistance in Philadelphia

  • July 6, 2023 1:57 am

from It’s Going Down

Report from Philadelphia on the recent protests against the ‘Mom’s for Liberty’ conference.

What follows is a short blow-by-blow report from the streets of Philadelphia, as people turned out to shout down the gender fascist “Mom’s for Liberty” conference which saw speeches from both Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.

Thursday

 

Resistance to the far-Right and anti-LGBTQ+ conference started early with banner drops, an anarchist organized counter-march where graffiti slogans are written, and a direct action against a venue hosting Mom’s for Liberty attendees.

 

Friday

As the Mom’s 4 Liberty summit kicked off with their first day of meetings, the dance party outside enjoyed themselves with raucous joy. Despite an absurdly large police presence when Donald Trump arrived to speak, the partiers managed to hold the street in front of the Marriott for the day. With temperatures pushing 90 and and air quality advisory from the Canadian wildfires, revelers were encouraged to mask up, drink water, and take care of each other.

Speakers from Act Up Philadelphia, Indivisible and other local organizations spoke about the need for solidarity and compassion in the shadow of this most recent rise in fascism. Large groups of Philadelphians joined from simultaneous actions around the city including striking Starbucks workers and librarians and educators focused on keeping the Pride events at area libraries safe.

 

Reports from inside the Marriott shared that all of the speakers at the M4L summit mentioned the protests and door knockers were hung on room doors calling out the fascists meeting in the building. The message is getting across loud and clear that fascists are not welcome in Philly.

 

As attendees left the building, many with police escort, they were heckled and shouted at. Once again Philly showed that we are a city that will fight fiercely for each other. The party continues Saturday and Sunday, kicking off with a specifically tailored Children’s Protest from 11-1pm on Saturday and culminating in an amazing line up of local DJs.

 

Saturday

Saturday’s protests outside of the Marriott in Philadelphia began with a protest specifically tailored to youth. Coloring books, chalk, sign making equipment and a truck for the children to be able to climb on and look out over the demonstration made for a cheerful, exuberant family focused atmosphere.

While fascist dignitaries such as Dennis Prager and the IG account “transition_justice” attempted to argue with the protestors, most people kept up the joyous dancing in an effort to “Dance the Hate Away.” An impromptu line dancing workshop and the Drag Queen Gospel Choir kept protestor spirits high and showcased all that the incredible queer community has to offer.

Philadelphia pigs showed themselves to be more aggressive today and maintained an intimidating presence across the street in partial riot gear. In reality all they did was idle their trucks and busses in a tunnel next to signs that clearly said “no idling” and collect overtime.

Sunday is the fourth and final day of both the conference and demonstrations.

Sunday

As the fascist hate group Moms 4 Liberty wrapped up it’s final day here in Philadelphia, the dance party continued outside. Revelers took the block by 10am, dancing to classics and new beats alike. Cases of water, coffee, snacks and activities for kids kept the party vibes going. The skate ramp from the day before was rolled out and the people of Philadelphia continued to make it clear that hate and fear would be countered with love and joy.

At 11am five local activists took the intersection at 12th and Filbert outside of the iconic Reading Terminal Market. Chanting “Philly is a Trans City” and wearing large silkscreened patches that said “Protect Trans Kids,” the activists stayed focused and calm as police pushed and shoved them, arresting all five.

As the conference wrapped up and members checked out, more aggressive provocation came from the out of town attendees. Two M4L conference goers came running towards the barricades laughing and throwing tee shirts at the protesters. One of them was quickly and thoroughly egged by a protester, and walked back in with a look of shock that there had been a consequence to her action.

As some higher profile media activists strutted around wearing sandwich boards with bible quotes on them and videoing the protestors, a woman ran through the barricades waving a trans flag and dancing. She was brutally thrown to the ground by an officer and arrested. The incident was posted on several social media accounts owned by M4L attendees, celebrating the Philadelphia Police Department for serving as the front-line defending gender fascism.

 

All arrestees were cited and released, one received medical attention at a local hospital.

The Mom’s 4 Liberty fascists decided to come to Philly and definitely found out that Philly is a queer city.

photo: Kim Kelly via Twitter

NJ Hate Watch: S14’s Neo Nazi Leaders Mark Kauffman and Sara Sheaffer

  • July 5, 2023 1:07 am

from Jersey Counter-Info

S14, officially known as Storm Division, is a tristate (NJ, PA, NY) area neo nazi group that has been very active over the past few months. They have been busy doing pop-up propaganda demos, trying to recruit virtual and in-person members, mass stickering and putting up fascist graffiti in the region, specifically in the Philadelphia area and NJ. They have also been pushing a united front amongst the far right in the area and openly hold multiple different memberships within groups like NJEHA, Embrace Struggle Active Club, WLM, Atlantic Nationalist Club, and the Garden State Nationalists.

Their activity has been increasingly organized with some of their most recent actions making local media headlines. Despite their high level of organization and escalating actions, S14 and their members have gotten sloppy with their own security.

Due to lapses in S14’s security, antifascists have been able to identify their two leaders, “commandant Joachim Peiper” and his “wife”, as Mark A. Kauffman and Sara Sheaffer respectively.

Sheaffer and Kauffman in plain clothes on the left and in their “disguises” on the right during a neo-nazi demo.

Kauffman and Sheaffer are engaged to be married and are both originally from Massachusetts, having lived in different parts of the state. According to Kauffman, they bounced around a bit in MA and settled in Philadelphia several years ago. Antifascists were able to independently verify Kauffman’s account and confirmed that as of now he and Sheaffer live in North Philadelphia on East Wishart Street. Kauffman also supposedly owns property in the south, “on the Mason Dixon line”.

Sheaffer’s Facbook profile featuring a picture of her and Kauffman from several years ago. Both of them look notably different in 2023.

 

Kauffman’s Facebook profile, which has an updated picture of himself from a month ago.

 

Another recent picture of Kauffman from his Facebook page. Kauffman is subtly showing his neo nazi views by wearing a shirt with a “black sun” on it. This is one of many symbols that neo nazis use to covertly flag to other neo nazis about their views, as the general public is not aware of its meaning.

 

Kauffman provides details about where he lived previously in MA and verifies he currently lives in Philly.

 

At the time of publishing Kauffman’s claim could not be independently verified.

Kauffman reportedly works in construction as a foreman at A Woman Owned Contractor, a “Hispanic owned” construction firm which does large scale commercial roofing and construction services. (More details on Kauffman’s employer and how to contact them will be listed at the end of the article).

Prior to moving to Philadelphia, Kauffman was in the US Army for several years and completed two combat tours in the Middle East. At that point he was already a nazi, as he stated in a public message on S14’s telegram channel.

Kauffman upon returning home from his second tour in the the Army.

 

Kauffman’s account of his time in the US military. Given Kauffman’s actions and beliefs one has to wonder what war crimes is he responsible for.

After his time in the Army, Kauffman was homeless in MA for some time, at one point staying at an NGO that provides assistance to homeless veterans. During this time he and Sheaffer were also using hard drugs and in 2018, Kauffman was brought up on drug trafficking and weapons possession charges in MA. Kauffman reportedly had several ounces of meth and illegal firearms in a storage unit.

At the time of publishing it is unknown if Kauffman was convicted of any of the charges against him in this case.

There was no media follow up on how the case against Kauffman turned out and nothing was publicized. It’s not clear exactly when Kauffman and Sheaffer got clean and moved to Philadelphia, but it is suspected to be around the 2018/2019 time frame.

Kauffman’s white nationalist activities prior to 2022 are hazy, but it seems that Kauffman decided to publicly organize and establish ties with other fascists during 2022 on Gab. He was then connected with a fellow white nationalist, going by the alias Stephen Quest, who was recruiting members and leadership within a neo nazi organization called the National Socialist Youth Alliance (NSYA).

Kauffman’s Gab account, which was created in 2022, coinciding with the timeline of his efforts to publicly organize other fascists and white nationalists.

Kauffman officially launched S14 in March 2023, when he and others split from the NSYA. Upon starting this new nazi organization, Kauffman, with the help of Sheaffer, instituted new organizational security and logistical guidelines and started recruiting efforts both online and in-person. Kauffman made a serious effort to create a nazi safe space on telegram, shying away from infighting and trying to build camaraderie among members.

Kauffman and Sheaffer also have a special interest in recruiting minors.

He also increased the rate of in-person actions within his tristate area crew encouraging pop-up style protests during the day and night time propaganda dissemination actions.

Kauffman pictured during a recent midnight propaganda run where he and other S14 members covered Ridley Township in white nationalist leaflets.

In addition, Kauffman implemented different security guidelines for the public S14 Telegram chat like not discussing illegal activity, not giving out personal info or personal phone numbers to other group members, no infighting, and no glorification of white nationalists who have committed mass shootings. Kauffman has thus far strictly enforced his group’s code, often banning members for breaking these rules.

Ironically though, Kauffman does not hold himself to the same high standard. Kauffman’s first major mistake was providing a detailed background of his life in public Telegram chats which enabled antifascists to construct a profile on him. This included his time in the military, prior life in New England, veiled details about his day job, and the fact he currently lives in North Philly.

His second major mistake was providing information about the level of his fiance’s involvement and unintentionally revealing his fiance’s identity on the S14 public telegram channel.

Kauffman often refers to Sheaffer as his wife, though they are not legally married. Here Kauffman is discussing S14’s reading group.

 

Sheaffer does not have an individual discernible presence on Telegram. In a different situation this could give her plausible deniability over her level of involvement in S14 but Kauffman’s repeated reference to her on Telegram in combination with her heavy in-person involvement shows otherwise.

 

Kauffman’s most egregious error was revealing her legal name.

At the time, Kauffman likely didn’t think too much about mentioning his fiances legal name, because he was using it to try and recruit more women to his crew. Fascist and white nationalist groups are well known to have an absence of women for a variety of reasons, so leveraging female membership is something that would have been valuable to Kauffman and S14 as a whole.

Unfortunately for him, Kauffman’s revelation is the only reason that antifascists were able to find Sheaffer and confirm her identity. Kauffman took basic steps to erase information about himself on the internet, removing many links that could potentially expose him. This coupled with the fact that he and Sheaffer are not legally married added another layer of removal, functionally creating a situation where Sheaffer would be very difficult to identify without her legal name. Because antifascists had her first name they were eventually able to definitively identify and link Sheaffer to Kauffman and S14.

Kauffman and Sheaffer during one of S14’s stickering actions. Kauffman is pictured slapping up neo nazi stickers and Sheaffer is walking with her hair up in the background.

 

Sheaffer and Kauffman holding a new S14 flag at an action in Easton PA with S14, NJEHA, Embrace Struggle Active Club, and other fascists.

Other white supremacist activity in the area, the source of which has not been able to be identified until now, can also be ascribed to Sheaffer. A female member of Atlantic Nationalist Club has been trolling Philadelphia area antifascists on Telegram for a period of time throwing up racist stickers across the city.

<MEDIA>@https://jerseycounterinfo.noblogs.org

The individual in the Atlantic Nationalist Club video is a white female wearing an engagement ring who quickly puts up a sticker on a utility poll. Given Sheaffer’s background info and the shooting style of the video, the likelihood of this being anyone but her is incredibly low.

S14 has prided themselves themselves on their anonymity, security culture, and ability to do things anonymously for months from behind the comfort of a mask. That time is now over. Kauffman and Sheaffer must be exposed for the nazis that they are.

Kauffman’s reported most recent employer, AWOC, can be reached at their main offices at 215-219-3579 or through email through their website. The following script and photos from the article can be used to contact AWOC about Kauffman.

“Hello I am a concerned Philadelphia resident and I am calling to inquire about the status of an AWOC employee. Mark Kauffman, an AWOC foreman, is a neo nazi and white supremacist. Kauffman regularly engages in bigoted and even illegal behavior directed towards minorities and marginalized people. I am happy to provide concrete evidence of his actions. If Kauffman is still employed at AWOC, it is not a safe environment for anyone. I request that action be taken immediately through terminating his employment. Thank you for your time.”

Send tips and information: njhatewatch@protonmail.com

Antifascists Kick NJEHA, Embrace Struggle Active Club, and Garden State Nationalists Out of Princeton, NJ

  • July 4, 2023 1:12 am

from Jersey Counter-Info

Local antifascists received a tip from a concerned Princeton area resident on the morning of July 1st, 2023 that NJEHA and other fascists were at a Walmart on the outskirts of Princeton. Based on this tip, antifascists were able to mobilize and disrupt their meet up in the Walmart parking lot and gather intel. The group included members of NJEHA, Embrace Struggle Active Club, and Garden State Nationalists.

NJEHA members and the other fascists were spotted at the Walmart around 9am July 1, 2023. They soon found themselves unexpectedly surveilled by antifascists. They were visibly taken by surprise and it was clear they were not expecting anyone other than their own comrades as no one took any effort to cover their faces, license plates, or other personal property.

Two fascists in shock over being discovered at their meet up. At the time of publishing these two individuals have yet to be identified.

 

A fascist and their Black Nissan Sentra with PA plates “LPB1567”.

 

A group of three nazis at the Walmart parking lot, including former antifascist Paul Minton.

 

A white Dodge van that the fascists used to transport a banner and supplies. PA plates “ZVB3926”.

 

Paul Minton, who crawled back to fascism in 2020, was present too. He was wearing Embrace Struggle Active Club gear. Minton is a confirmed member of Embrace Struggle AC.

Some of the fascists must still be identified, however, there were some familiar faces including Paul Minton and Dan D’ambly. Minton, who was previously an antifascist, but backslid into fascism in 2020, was caught with his mask off talking to two other fascists. D’ambly was caught by his blue/green Toyota Camry with another fascist.

D’ambly and his Toyota Camry.

 

D’ambly and another fascist caught by surprise.

The fascists scrambled on what to do next and divided into two groups, one group lagged behind at the Walmart lot and the other set out to their intended destination, which ended up being downtown Princeton, NJ. Antifascists were able to discover this in real time through on ground surveillance work, which was successful because of the fascist’s sloppy tactics and security measures. While they attempted to use counter measures like staggering the time their members left, and later, waiting around Princeton in the hope that antifascists would leave, NJEHA, Embrace Struggle Active Club, the Garden State Nationalists, and their associates were unable to shake antifascists.

The group of fascists marching on the sidewalk attempting to conduct their demo.

 

An antifascist disrupting the Princeton demo.

Antifascists were able to mobilize quickly in Princeton once D’ambly and his crew hit the ground for their march and immediately began to disrupt their efforts. They were shouted down with a bullhorn and random passerby’s started to harass them as well. At one point one of D’ambly’s grunts tried to pass out NJEHA fliers and members of the public refused to take them, crumpling them up and throwing them on the ground like the trash they were.

NJEHA were unable to spread their fascist due to the efforts of antifascists.

 

One of the crumpled NJEHA fliers that was thrown out by the general public.

With their efforts foiled and heavy resistance from the general public and antifascists the assorted group of fascists gave up unceremoniously. They were spotted shortly after waiting for public transport by antifascists who were in the area.

The visibly dejected fascists waiting for public transport to take them back to their cars at Walmart.

 

D’ambly, Minton, and their fascist lackeys will probably try and spin their march and actions taken today as successful. That they were brave “American patriots” who took on antifascists in the streets. We know however that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Graffiti Welcomes M4L to Philly

  • July 4, 2023 1:04 am

Submission

Someone wanted to welcome M4L to Philly

Banner Drops Against Moms For Liberty

  • June 30, 2023 1:44 am

from Twitter

Banner drop over I-95 this morning. The M4L hate summit begins tonight with a opening reception at @AmRevMuseum. Show up at 5pm to, uh, “welcome” them. “Philly Protects Trans Kids” “Bad Things Happen to Fascists in Philadelphia”

Philadelphia: The Anti-Parent Turn: A report back from the art march

  • June 30, 2023 1:42 am

Submission

Tonight a group of around 20 people took to the streets to spread propaganda against the joyless losers and haters known as Moms for Liberty*. The march moved through Olde City toward the Museum of the American Revolution, which was hosting the opening reception for the Moms (booo!). They were being bused in from the bedbug ridden Marriott two blocks away because they’re too scared to walk through the city of brotherly love. Accompanied by a sound system and walking behind a banner reading “Revolt Against Misery + Moms (A)” the march put up posters and stickers, gave out fliers, and wrote graffiti. People joined the march as it went toward Center City. After passing the museum the march picked up a tail of two of Philadelphia’s swinest. The anarchists showed great professionalism and restraint to this affront to our freedom to be lawless vandals. After a couple more blocks the march dispersed without incident.
We appreciate everyone who came out to the march, especially the person who carried the sound system and the vandal with the cool handstyle. It’s been a while since anarchists were in the street like this, it felt like we were getting our bearings and relearning to move together despite a heavy police presence. We thought it was great that people talked to passersby, blocked traffic, and were looking out for each other during the march. The intent behind the march was to mobilize against Moms for Liberty, and create space for a smidge of crime while remaining relatively accessible, and to end America. We accomplished two of these three goals. Anarchist mobilizations in Philly can often feel intimidating and stressful, we’d like to get better at opening space for people to feel good, dance, chant, and grow confident in what we’re able to do together. Anarchy can be an expression of cathartic rage through which we feel fleeting moments of joy. We know this can be harder to do when we’re on federal property, surrounded by cops, in Olde City. We would love to hear about how other people felt about the march.

Death to birth! 😏
No future for hateful moms!
Long live mob vandalism!

xo
Moms for Anarchy — An informal organization of Baedan subscribers

*Moms for Liberty is a far-right organization that wields exceptional cultural and financial power over American politics. Their mask off brand of white supremacist, queerphobic, and transphobic genocidal beliefs and policy proposals increasingly shape the realities of daily life in the US. Pennsylvania has the second most chapters after Florida. Fuck em frfr!



Moms For Liberty Philly Welcome

  • June 30, 2023 1:40 am

Submission

The Museum of the American Revolution has decided that they are collaborators in the coming trans genocide. They are willingly hosting the welcoming reception for the anti LGBTQIA hate group “Moms for Liberty”, who are dedicated to banning books and raiding school boards and passing anti-trans legislation acorss the contry. They are a major force in the current wave of anti LGBTQIA hate, that they hope will escalate to the extermination of all queer people. They want us dead.

 

I decided to give them a warm Philly welcome by redecorating the museum where they will have their opening reception. The area was scouted and then messages were left on their walls and several windows were smashed. Their welcome to Philly will be boarded windows and the rage of everyone they wish to destroy. Collaborators will be held accountable.

 

It was incredibly easy to just go out alone and do this! But you should find your people, and do what has to be done for our survival.

Nerd Alert

  • June 30, 2023 1:38 am

Submission

No safe space for fascists in Philly.
We got word of this graffiti in Germantown last week and took care of it the next day.
Done in constant honor of Tortuguita and everyone still fighting against cop city, extra special shout-out to Leo Cullinan for setting a good example for the rest of his buddies and dying, Rot In Piss you Nazi fuck!

Museum Hosting Moms For Liberty Attacked

  • June 30, 2023 1:36 am

Submission
In the context of the Moms for Liberty conference the Museum of the American Revolution was vandalized. It hosted a reception event for the conference, despite complaints from staff. I wanted to make sure that people knew the museum was attacked. Hats off to the anonymous vandals! I’d love to read your communique; I can’t read the graffiti from the pictures.

No Dinner For Fascists

  • June 28, 2023 1:14 am

Submission

Eastern US Fur Farm Survey Reveals Numerous Closures

  • June 28, 2023 1:14 am

from North American Animal Liberation Press Office

Recently, anonymous aboveground activists conducted research of east coast fur farms, with the purpose of determining operational status and the number of active fur farms in the eastern United States, primarily Pennsylvania and New York.

Of the 18 farms visited, only one farm was confirmed as an active mink farm, the Stahl mink farm in Sunbury PA (4130 SR 890). One fox farm was inconclusive, the Pacuchinski fox farm in upstate NY (2730 Lenox Road).  All 16 others have shuttered. We found dilapidated and decayed sheds, and sheds that once confined mink were full of derelict machinery and various tools.

The number of operational U.S. mink farms is now under 100, down from over 400 in the 1990s and 274 just ten years ago. Estimates of active U.S. fox farms put the number between 25 and 50.

Last year, the Animal Liberation Front liberated over 15,000 mink from U.S. fur farms. In recent years, global pressure campaigns have seen nine designers go fur free. This is the grim state of the fur trade.

As the fur industry teeters on the brink of collapse, it’s up to all of us to do what it takes to ensure this industry never recuperates. Activist efforts and a diversity of tactics can destroy this industry that preys on native wildlife.

Look for the latest updates of closures and active fur farms at finalnail.com.

 

Gayer Together

  • June 25, 2023 1:02 am

from Instagram

Please join us at Vox Populi on 6/30 for a double feature of MAGGOTS AND MEN (Cary Cronenwett, 2009, 53min) and LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (Isaac Julien, 1989, 42min). The first movie with more than 100 trans actors, retelling the story of a famed anarchist uprising, and a fantastical non-biopic about the queer life and times of Langston Hughes. Magical queer revisionist films on their own, but they’re Gayer Together. Friday June 30, 7:30pm, open captions, $5-10 sliding scale, no one turned away. 💜

June 11 reportback

  • June 23, 2023 1:33 am

Submission

In recognition of June 11th, international day of solidarity with Marius Mason and all long-term anarchist prisoners, we held a group bike ride and movie screening to raise funds for the anarchist prisoner war fund and support for a local anarchist. Starting at Rittenhouse Square, we biked west, taking over the street and playing music. Once we arrived at the screening location, we were greeted by snacks, drinks, June 11th stickers, and lit distroed by Dead Drop & Suburbicide. This included June 11th statements by Marius Mason, Eric King, and Xinachtli. We watched the film Okja together. At the end of the night, we raised $200 to split between the two funds above.
Empty the Prisons and Burn Them!

Announcing Unravel.noblogs.org

  • June 23, 2023 1:30 am

from Act For Freedom Now!

Unravel is a counter-information project with an insurrectional perspective that aims to connect acts of negation and attack in the so-called USA. Those in power want our acts to remain disparate and disconnected, the spark that drives each of us shielded from the other’s view. By weaving together the threads of action, this project hopes to draw throughlines in the struggles that anarchists engage in, in order to broaden and amplify shared projectualities.

Domination and authority cross us in a tangled and knotted web of ever more interconnected systems; unraveling this network at one point has the potential to create a cascade that throws everything into disarray, opening spaces for freedom. This website is explicitly anarchist, and accepts/reposts communiques, reportbacks, analysis, calls to action, events, and mass media articles about unclaimed acts of vandalism, sabotage, arson, or destruction.

How do we Build Liberatory Capacity?: Solidarity Economy Assembly #2

  • June 22, 2023 1:29 am

from Making Worlds Books

As we work to build a solidarity economy, where we truly take care of each other and have our collective well-being at the heart of our everyday, the summit can sometimes be a steep climb in a world currently created to keep us separate and in competition with one another. A question organizers must ask themselves, and each other, again and again is: how do we build capacity for this work while also knowing and respecting our own individual and communal capacities?In collaboration with PACA member co-ops: Obvious Agency and Making Worlds, PACA continues its solidarity economy assemblies on Thursday, June 29th, 2023, from 6:30-8pm.

This second assembly will be facilitated by Obvious Agency and it will be a communal discussion of how we can build, investigate, honor, and take care of our collective capacities.Together we will investigate what drains and robs our capacities (bullshit jobs and isolated realities, for starters), as well as how we take our time and energy back. We will discuss how we’ve been conditioned to show up to “work”, how we decondition from that which does not serve us and only moves us towards the problems of burnout or accumulating social capital instead of dollars, as well as how we reframe showing up to efforts which matter to us. We will discuss how do we actually create capacity for this work (*cough* – more people – *cough*). Also, what is the world we’re actually trying to forge so that our practices of self- and collective-care aren’t just maintenance to shove us back into the grind, but instead we have spaciousness and possibility to allow us to have elements of being with those we love, being in regenerative solitude, showing up to the work which matters to us, immersing ourselves in other activities which gives us joy and meaning, and so much more.

We hope you’ll join us for this critical conversation around our collective capacity.

The good folks of Obvious Agency are, “Makers of games and interactive performances.” They are a “Worker-owned cooperative.” And they are, “Developing Space Opera – a game engine for building community”. https://www.instagram.com/obviousagencycoop

  • Thursday, June 29, 2023
  • 6:30 PM 8:00 PM
  • Making Worlds Bookstore & Social Center 210 South 45th Street Philadelphia, PA, 19104 United States (map)