Info on local fash

Submission

Heads ups for April 11

With a White Lives Matter march coming up April 11th (https://leftcoastrightwatch.org/2021/04/new-jersey-neonazis-plan-march-through-philly/) it might be useful for anti-fascists to familiarize themselves with local neo-Nazis and fascists who seem to be associated with the event. Much groundwork has already been laid for identifying members of the New Jersey European Heritage Association and their associates Keystone United/Keystone State Skinheads and Patriot Front. Although at the time of this writing NJEHA has attempted to distance themselves from the upcoming march (https://nitter.mastodont.cat/DLamontJenkins/status/1378399699967868930) there is no reason to believe that they are doing anything but trying to save face. The NJEHA has come to Philly before to harass anti-ICE protestors (http://idavox.com/index.php/2019/07/04/nj-boneheads-tried-to-cause-trouble-at-philly-i-c-e-protests/) and to put up fascists propaganda. KU/KSS have a much longer history of organizing fascist events, namely Leif Erikson Day, a celebration of colonization (https://phillyantifa.org/keystone-united-exposed-closing-thoughts/). Below are some links to information on known local fascists and far-right scum. The Proud Boys have not yet been associated with the White Lives Matter march but are included below in the event any that they attend unannounced.

Keystone United / Keystone State Skinheads / Be Active Front
https://keystoneunitedexposed.noblogs.org/

New Jersey European Heritage Association FKA Advanced White Society
https://nitter.mastodont.cat/zig161zag/status/1329560884713189379 (or twitter.com/zig161zag/status/1329560884713189379 to view the original post on twitter)

Philly Neo-Nazi Member of New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA) Exposed


https://nitter.mastodont.cat/NYCAntifa/status/1349171255765848067 (or twitter.com/NYCAntifa/status/1349171255765848067 to view the original post on twitter)

Patriot Front FKA Vanguard America

Kieran P. Morris

Scott Baxtin—Erie, PA fascist.

Philly Proud Boys
https://phillyproudboys.noblogs.org/

General Local and National Fascists
https://phillyantifa.org/local-fascists-and-nazis/
https://onepeoplesproject.com/rogues-gallery/

Verify your information when possible, people move, people get new cars, etc.

Jackson Bradley NJEHA Nazi Behind “White Lives Matter Philadelphia”

from Twitter

In early January, Nazis skulked around NYC taking pics of themselves sieg heiling with a fascist flag. The Nazi in the grey & black coat is Jackson Bradley, a Philly member of the New Jersey European Heritage Association who goes by “Jesse Herring” on Telegram.
Jackson Browning Bradley was identified by antifascists in 2020 as a Philly member of the Nazi group, the New Jersey European Heritage Association. The NJEHA is connected to fascist groups like Patriot Front & has heavily targeted areas in Staten Island.
Jackson Bradley, in the same grey & black coat, was also seen flyering for the NJEHA with local NYC Nazi, Jovi Val, and a third man in Philadelphia in early January– across from Independence Hall and the National Museum of American Jewish History.
Jackson Bradley (as “Jesse Herring”) openly bragged about targeting the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philly in the Operation Flag Drop Telegram channel–which is run by a well-connected NYC MAGA grifter, Dion Cini, who stormed the Capitol on Jan 6th.

Eviction Defense

Submission

On Wednesday March 31 individuals showed up to a call to eviction defense at the 13/15th & Locust PATCO Station, where some Philadelphians have created an encampment for themselves.

People started offering their support as early as 7:30AM (Food Not Bombs). Followed by other autonomous individuals who spent the day in the terminal to combat and resist the city’s planned “service day.” “Service days” are long known to be the misleading term the city uses for sweeps. This is widely understood amongst people plugged into housing issues and people living outside or on public property.

Defenders spent the day in the terminal monitoring the police presence, getting to know the people in the encampment, arguing with city workers to maintain possession of unaccounted for items, and guarding people’s tents and belongings to prevent them from being deemed trash or getting ruined while workers power-washed the terminal. Workers unsurprisingly had a host of disrespectful things to say about the Philadelphians living in the terminal and their belongings.

Housing services showed up to suggest that residents leave the terminal for other housing options. Supporters remained present and directly over-heard city services proclaiming that we were there to use the residents for publicity. An interesting interpretation considering no one was photographing, recording or otherwise taking it upon themselves to tell residents what to do. Some supporters checked in with residents after their conversations with city workers. Heard were sentiments such as “they’re trying to get us to go into rapid rehousing but I’ve been through this before and it’s a bunch of bullshit, we’ll be out of there and back on the street by next week.”

At the end of the day, several occupied areas were successfully defended and were untouched by city workers, who originally told residents they would have to at least remove all of their belongings. Unhoused people often lose their belongings in sweeps because they are unable to watch their things all day, unable to move all their belongings themselves, or unsuccessful at resisting city workers who are intent on proclaiming that any personal items that aren’t on private property or on ‘your person’ are trash.

While the defense on the ground happened in solidarity, the discussion online surrounding it beforehand raised relevant issues, especially as moratoriums end and eviction defense becomes an increasingly pressing issue and way to show up against capitalism and for each other.

On March 29th and 30th a flyer started to circulate on anarchist, housing-support and eviction-defense networks (such as Signal and Telegram), as well as on social media. The simple B&W flyer stated “Block the eviction” / “Stop the city from clearing the encampment at 12/13th & Locust PATCO station” / “Meet at 10am — Defend at 11am” / and “Share widely.”

The “action words” included “Block,” “Stop,” “Meet,” and “Share.” The flyer did not mention black bloc, nor did it suggest defenders “throw down,” or “fight the police.” A discrepancy that makes the critical comments following the flyer’s appearance important to question, analyze and address.

Visually it referenced the accidental blockade of the Suez Canal by the Evergreen ship — which is popularly known to have been a temporary (and celebrated amongst anti-capitalists) disaster for commerce. It was relevant (albeit somewhat tangentially) in that eviction defense/illegal occupation of city-owned property is inherently threatening to capitalism and often involves literally blocking government workers from carrying out sweeps.

When the flyer was shared on the popular social media platform Instagram (IG), Individuals and activists added commentary by way of clarifying “re-posts” and comments about the flyer. For example:

“Hey it isn’t an eviction, it is a sanitation event. Please don’t show up to fight the police. The department of Housing Services have promised that people’s belongings won’t be thrown away as long as their owner is with them.”
“Honestly delete this post (re: flyer/call to eviction defense). We’re worried about people showing up in black bloc to fight the police for an eviction that isn’t happening”
“Clarity: it seems that folks are *not* being evicted tomorrow. However encampment residents are asking that people are there ONLY to make sure they are not displaced. They have been told they will not be during tomorrow’s routine cleaning.

DO NOT ANTAGONIZE ANY POLICE. Showing up and being SUPPORT is fine, but anything else goes against the graces for brutality from the police. So show up, be kind to the encampment workers, protect them and their things if you HAVE to, and that’s it.

Do not put people’s lives in danger with your own agenda.”

“So so important that folks not antagonize or escalate on their own impetus with houseless  comrades in the crossfire.”

These statements, while not necessarily wrong or made in bad faith, are representative of misunderstandings, as well as misrepresentations of direct action and those who carry it out.

The intentions of the private networks who participate in direct action are frequently critiqued, often in bad faith, because the government, mainstream media and liberal agenda encourages a disdain towards them. This is tactical on the governments part, as these individuals often make a life-style out of resisting and combatting government oppression. The goal here is not to point fingers and declare which statements were from whom, but to discuss why the commentary was premature, misguided and harmful.

People claiming that the city does not mean to harm individuals living in encampments and squats —on any occasion — is, first of all, mislead. Secondly they are directly supporting the city government in being free to terrorize the housing-insecure population uninhibited. Even if an eviction is not happening at all, people showing up en masse to demonstrate their support and willingness to fight evictions in general deters the city from dishing out eviction notices.
When it comes to encampments or people living on public property, the best eviction defense is building relationships, sharing resources, and offering aid on a regular basis. This lets the government know who is in solidarity with them. This may include community aid, street art, combative action towards oppressive government programs/officials and much more.
However none of those things can stop evictions if we do not make a practice of showing up on the day and time that they’re rumored to happen AND demonstrate our willingness to not take the city government’s orders. Showing up to “support” only goes so far. At some point what matters most is who is prepared to keep standing and keep guarding belongings when city workers demand we back down. This is why we take issue with the cautionary language contained in the comments.

Eviction defense is anti-gov, anti-cap and anti-property. It ultimately involves combative/non-compliant action verses cooperative/lawful support. Participating in & defending encampments, squats, and even non-gov-approved mutual aid is conflictual, disobedient, and risky. It predicates a power struggle with the government and city services. Showing up to an eviction defense requires a willingness to not cooperate with the government and to possibly accrue legal penalties. It also potentially creates grounds for police to justify targeting, taking note of, and repressing you.

You are supporting people in resisting laws, zoning and city operations. For some, this warrants “bloc-ing up” and for others it might not. This can depend on countless factors, some of which might be if individuals are involved in other illegal activities and anti-state efforts, if they are already on the police’s radar or facing police repression, or if they are inherently targeted by police.

Eviction defense is about more than preventing people from losing their possessions and having to find alternate shelter. It’s a relevant fighting ground for undermining capitalism, state power and its entities – most notably, private and government-owned property, both being extensions of colonization.

Encampments are already illegal because they overwhelmingly exist on public property owned by city government. Encampments exist in the first place because the city hoards property, fuels gentrification and refuses to allow anyone to make shelter out of the countless vacant homes capable of providing it. The reason the city doesn’t allow these homes to be used is because all government systems are invested in capitalism.

Capitalism works by placing monetary value on the things people need to survive — like housing, food, and healthcare — making them unavailable to those without adequate capital. Capitalism is maintained by creating consequences like homelessness, hunger, loss of autonomy or death for those who do not acquire and maintain the level of capital needed to acquire those things.

As such, the city government, including the OHS has an obligation to make sure people are unable to “live for free” by occupying public spaces instead of paying for private property or surrendering their autonomy to be granted a spot in a shelter.
People made many anticipatory and presumptuous claims about those behind the flyer and the call for eviction defense. Critical responses to the flyer were based on a fear of black bloc, escalation, conflictuality, as well as the private networks that organize and plan direct actions. Publicly encouraging a narrow and uninformed understanding of black bloc is a fantastic way to bolster police repression. It alienates willing and active individuals who may already be on the police’s radar and need to obscure their identities to keep themselves safe in settings monitored by police.
A clear misunderstanding of what conflictual and combative tactics are for was also evident. The people in our networks seek to destroy systems of oppressive. Sometimes this does involve literal destruction of property but that’s just one of many tactics in the arsenal. Eviction defense is a defensive action that may or may not involve direct confrontation with the police. The goal (which was clearly communicated in the flyer) was to prevent eviction and protect the people in danger of being evicted. It is with a lack of understanding and solidarity that what occurred in response was an expectation for people to throw down, start a “street fight” with cops, and harm individuals in need of defense.
Lastly, a common thread in the critiques was for individuals to not show up “with their own agenda,” or act “on their own impetus.” Believing that people should not show up to eviction defense as part of their own struggle is disempowering. People commonly show up to actions because they are personally interested in seeing something through. This is usually because it is a part of their personal agenda for resistance against larger systems.

It is short sighted to think eviction defense and housing justice only concern those who are currently unhoused in a specific situation. Property is violence because the state owns and controls land and punishes people for trying to survive by making the things they need inaccessible through capital. Anyone with an interest in resisting or combating capitalism’s grip on our lives has a personal interest and agenda when it comes to eviction defense. Defending someone’s home, when their residency is illegal is joining them in their resistance. Defense isn’t a passive action. It is patronizing to not recognize that people living in encampments, squats and on public property are already involved in resistance, regardless of if it is only for themselves or part of a larger agenda against oppressive systems.

Nazis GTFO!: Picnic Against Hate

from Facebook

No photo description available.

Come celebrate our community by joining our picnic with a purpose: telling Nazis to GTFO!

Violent white supremacists have announced plans for a racist “White Lives Matter” rally in Center City (exact location TBA). Promotional material for the day prominently features Nazi symbolism, like the swastika.

Bring signs but also music, picnic blankets, lunch, puppets, etc.

Their announced gather time is 1 pm, so we’re asking folks to do their best to come out by noon.

We’ll show fascists that there is no room or love for them in our streets or in our city.

[Sunday, April 11, 2021 at 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM EDT
Center City]

NEW JERSEY NEONAZIS PLAN MARCH THROUGH PHILLY

from Left Coast Right Watch

An April “White Lives Matter” rally planned to take place in Philadelphia is being organized primarily by members of the New Jersey European Heritage Association, or NJEHA. An SLPC-designated hate group, NJEHA was formed in 2018 and has a wide presence in the Northeast United States. The Telegram group “White Lives Matter Philadelphia” is operated by previously-identified NJEHA member Jackson Browning Bradley, a white supremacist and neo-Nazi with a long history of far-right activity in the Delaware Valley.

Plans for organized “White Lives Matter” rallies across the country were first disseminated via multiple white supremacist Telegram channels and were picked up by antifascist researchers in late March. Coordinated from the “White Lives Matter – 4/11” Telegram channel, networked channels for rallies in as many as fifty cities across the US and Europe have appeared in the last three weeks. Groups range from as few as two to as many as two hundred members, organizing as part of a nationwide “day of action” planned for Sunday, April 11. The Philadelphia channel has quickly grown to one of the largest in the network – at the time of this reporting, with over 100 subscribers. It’s also one of the most racist, routinely posting content so openly hateful that other users have suggested distancing themselves from the channel, even wondering if it could be a “false flag” planted in the network by federal operatives.

A Telegram message edited to remove identifiable information. Message reads: 'lol surely this room is an op. I mean mate, this is supposed to be a way to onboard normies and they are posting GLR and the turner diaries? Idk maybe they’re just edge lords but it seems like they are trying too hard.'
A Telegram message in “White Lives Matter – 4/11” referencing the Philadelphia page theorizes that the group may be an “op”.

In fact, the “White Lives Matter Philadelphia” channel is confirmed to be operated by members of the New Jersey European Heritage Association, a white supremacist group operating out of southern New Jersey. NJEHA has a small following but was responsible for a majority of white supremacist propaganda in New Jersey in 2019. The channel is operated by NJEHA member Jackson Browning Bradley, a Philadelphia resident with a long history of far-right organizing. An NJEHA member since its formation in 2018, Bradley is a vicious anti-Semite and adherent of American neo-Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell (“GLR”). Bradley served as the infiltration point for a large disclosure of information about the hate group by antifascist researchers in 2019, which identified the group’s leader and the extent of their activities across the mid-Atlantic. Bradley was identified with NJEHA on multiple occasions, including an event at Princeton University in 2019 that featured neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier Patrick Little. Bradley was also caught on camera in 2021 posting white supremacist propaganda around the National Museum of Jewish-American History in Philadelphia with members of NJEHA. On video, Bradley gives a Nazi salute and can be heard saying “Heil Hitler, by the way” as he is chased from the scene by bystanders.

The “White Lives Matter Philadelphia” channel is one of the most openly racist of the WLM-4/11 network, routinely espousing violent and genocidal anti-Semitic rhetoric. Posts shared from known NJEHA channels spread literal Nazi propaganda and call for violence against non-white ethnic groups.

“The end of World Jewry…this new war will be more decisive then[sic] the last one,” one post shared from an NJEHA-operated page states. “We shall end the Jewish Control over our society along with the White Traitors who worked with them to destroy our Race”.

A post in the 'White Lives Matter Philadelphia' Telegram channel: the red and black Nazi swastika symbol with a black-and-white globe in the center. Below the swastika, the words 'SYMBOL OF WHITE POWER'
A swastika symbol posted in the “White Lives Matter Philadelphia” channel accompanied by the words “SYMBOL OF WHITE POWER”.

Bradley’s distinctive writing style can be identified from his active Facebook page, where he routinely crossposts black-and-white photos of segregated Philadelphia from his Telegram pages. Bradley also operates in the central “White Lives Matter – 4/11” organizing channel under a known alias, where he posts links to the official NJEHA Telegram page. He also claims in conversations to have organized marches with Patrick Little, further solidifying proof of ties between NJEHA and the Philadelphia rally.

A Telegram post edited to remove identifiable information, posted by a known alias of Bradley: 'I hope your\[sic\] careful though these Jews will try to tear this apart so it must be important to have our leading people to have discipline and order when we’re\[sic\] are doing this and have your faces covered! I did White Lives Matter Marches for Patrick Little so I know what I’m talking about!'
In the “White Lives Matter – 4/11” chat, Bradley confirms his participation in 2019 “It’s Okay to Be White” rally organized by neo-Nazi Patrick Little.

The planned march will gather in Philadelphia on April 11 in conjunction with other “White Lives Matter” marches planned across the country. Bradley claims that the group will rally in Center City before marching to Northeast Philadelphia and/or South Philadelphia. Other identified participants include members of the Philadelphia Proud Boys and the Patriot Party of PA, as well as other members of NJEHA. All named groups should be expected to be in attendance. Fliers for the national movement claim rallies will begin at 1pm, but a specific time for the Philadelphia rally has not yet been confirmed.

A Telegram post posted by “White Lives Matter Philadelphia”: 'This Rally is going to be in Center City to South Philly and Northeast Philly! To Rally our people in our White Neighborhoods to entice them to join our March! The Whites here have had enough of the Jews and the Anti-White System displacing them and using Antifa to intimidate our people!'
A post from “White Lives Matter Philadelphia” claims that the planned 4/11 rally will gather in Center City and travel to “South Philly and Northeast Philly!”

Prison Break: Glimmers of Light

from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

Political Prisoner Birthdays

The only political prisoner’s birthday in April is that of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who will turn 67. Mumia recently contracted COVID-19 and his health has continued to deteriorate during his 37 years of wrongful imprisonment. As a Pennsylvania prisoner he will only receive scans of correspondence, but send him a birthday letter or card now to show your solidarity.

April 24
Mumia Abu-Jamal,
Smart Communications/PA DOC
SCI Mahanoy
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, FL 33733

Ongoing Cases

On March 17, lawyers for political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal filed a response in the hopes of re-opening appeals filed on Mumia’s behalf. You can read more about the struggles of Pennsylvania political prisoners Abu-Jamal and Russell Maroon Shoatz in the new Human Rights Coalition magazine, pages 33-38. On March 19th, Mumia issued a message to supporters who flooded phone lines and email inboxes, demanding his release. Here’s his statement:

Dear sisters, brothers, comrades, and friends and family on a MOVE! How can I thank you? These, my words, can hardly measure the flood of love that you have radiated on my behalf recently. I am almost — almost — without words, but I’ll try.

Thank you, Wadiya. Thank you, Pam Africa. Your support from Philadelphia to France, from points across the nation and literally around the globe, have pulled me from a prison cell and placed me in a hospital room to be treated for a condition I didn’t know I had.

In the age of pandemic as of January 2021, over 300,000 prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19. Imagine that in a cell, trying to breathe with a weight pressing on your chest. Imagine an elder man or woman, or even a young person, because yes, we are also in an age of mass incarceration, which day-by-day increases its infliction upon the elderly struggling, unsuccessfully, to breathe, to walk, to be.

I thank you all for reaching out and I urge you all, let our mission be abolition. I love you all. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.

From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.

A #FreeAnt Update

from Instagram

Photo by #FreeAnt on April 01, 2021. May be an image of text.Photo by #FreeAnt on April 01, 2021. May be an image of text that says '**ALSO** Some people are also fighting (nonsensical) charges from over the past year of action and are starting trial/ pretrial this month. If you know who those people are, continue to support them. Maybe more info on that will be available as time goes by. I'm not sharing any specific info about them unless they find it necessary to do so. I mean generally, support people dealing with the courts in this pandemic. It's a mess forreal. **don't speculate names, actions or trial details on this post or any others**'.

A #FreeAnt update directly from our dude. Thank you all so much for being with us and mobilizing community support for Ant through this whole process. We still have a long way to go and we appreciate all of your help as we continue to fight for all of the charges to be dropped. Continue to follow and support and share the posts on this page and look out for some necessary fundraising needs coming this way soon. #DropTheCharges

Wednesday March 31st: Letter-writing for Fran Thompson

from Philly ABC

fran-thompson.jpg

Philly ABC has been busy gearing up for this year’s Running Down the Walls 5K (save the date of September 12th with funds split between the ABCF Warchest and Mumia Abu-Jamal!), but we didn’t want to miss a monthly letter-writing so we are hosting the next event online this Wednesday the 31st.

Philly ABC is energized by building momentum towards abolishing the police. As prison abolitionists, we stand in solidarity with the many people who have taken necessary actions to defend themselves without engaging police or courts. We believe self-defense is a right, and recognize that police and courts do not provide viable options to ensure safety. Both are even more biased against people who are known to stand up against injustice.

This month we encourage people to write letters to Fran Thompson, who was sentenced to life in prison for self-defense in 1994. Prior to her incarceration, Fran lived on a farm in Knox County, Nebraska. She was a dedicated animal rights and environmental activist. After a man who was stalking her threatened to kill her and then broke into her house, Fran shot and killed him in self-defense but was charged with murder.

Fran’s case was highly politicized. Fran had taken on the prosecutor and local government during her activism, organizing against two big projects, the Walden Egg Factory and a nuclear waste facility, that would have brought the county big profits. She was treated harshly by the local court for her commitment to animals and the environment. She was not allowed to enter a plea of self-defense and received a sentence of life without parole.

This event will be held on Jitsi – we’ll post the meet link on social media the day of. You can also message us to get the link beforehand. If you are unable to make the event, please drop Fran a line and let her know she is not forgotten:

Fran Thompson #93341
Nebraska Correctional Center for Women
1107 Recharge Rd.
York, NE 68467-8003

We also encourage sending a birthday card to Mumia Abu-Jamal, as a U.S.-held political prisoner born in April. Sadly, the other political prisoner who we would have been sending a birthday card to– [Chip Fitzgerald] (https://www.prisonersolidarity.com/prisoner/romaine-chip-fitzgerald)– recently suffered a severe cardio-vascular event and passed away on March 31st, so we send heartfelt condolences to his loved ones.

Report from march in solidarity against anti-AAPI racism

Submission

On the night of 3/27, about a dozen people responded to a call to march against anti-Asian racism and white supremacy. After a brief discussion about intentions, the bloc marched about 10 blocks, without a police tail, through pedestrian streets that have been overtaken by outdoor dining, chanting slogans against racism, the police, and white supremacy. This disrupted what would otherwise have been a lovely evening for Philly’s yuppies, before dispersing without incident. Some of these chants included “A-C-A-B, FUCK/END WHITE SUPREMACY!”, “COPS & KLAN GO HAND IN HAND!”,” WHEN ASIAN/IMMIGRANT/BLACK LIVES ARE UNDER ATTACK, WHAT DO WE DO, STAND UP FIGHT BACK!”, “A-ANTI-ANTICAPITALISTA!”, some feral screaming into the night, etc.

The march was a really fun night out! Spirits were high, the chanting was strong and heartfelt. The bloc was playful and even had an impromptu dance to some street musicians playing Vanessa Carlton’s “1000 Miles”. The route choice of pedestrian streets meant that the march could be loud and visible with a low risk of encountering the police. Communication between marchers felt easy and people were able to make decisions together.

Here are some things to think about for future actions. Considering nearby cameras and visibility from the street and sidewalk when choosing a meet up location can help increase anonymity and the chance of a smooth start. The messaging on the banner was confusing — it said that no one has to die for people to fight racism, which is true, but racism does kills everyday.

This action was successful in being highly visible, spreading a message against white supremacy, avoiding arrests and a police tail. The route was clever in that it went through streets already closed to car traffic. This kind of relatively low stress action builds confidence, as well as experience moving & deciding together in the street. It also felt like a good first outing of the spring, and a way to show that actions can be fun, playful, and confrontational all at the same time.

-DSA: Insurrectionary Nihilist Caucus

In Contempt #3: Calls to Action from Behind the Prison Walls, ‘Blockade Defense’ Campaign Launched

from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

Uprising Defendants

Everyone should support the defendants facing charges related to their alleged participation in the George Floyd uprising – this list of our imprisoned comrades needs to be getting shorter, not longer. The status of pre-trial defendants changes frequently, but to the best of our knowledge they currently include:

Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal #70002-066
FDC Philadelphia
P.O. Box 562
Philadelphia, PA 19105

David Elmakayes #77782-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105

Shawn Collins #69989-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105

Steven Pennycooke #69988-066
FDC Philadelphia,
PO Box 562,
Philadelphia, PA 19105

When writing to pre-trial prisoners, do not write about their cases or say anything that you wouldn’t want to hear read out in court. If you have any updates, either about status changes meaning that people should be removed from this list, or about names that are missing and should be included, please reach out.

Upcoming Birthdays

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia is an award winning journalist and was one of the founders of the Black Panther Party chapter in Philadelphia, PA. He has struggled for justice and human rights for people of color since he was at least 14 years old; the age when he joined the Party. In December of 1982, Mumia, who moonlighted by driving a taxi, happened upon police who were beating his brother. During the melee, a police officer was shot and killed. Despite the fact that many people saw someone else shoot and then run away from the scene, Mumia, in what could only be called a kangaroo court, was convicted and sentenced to death. During the summer of 1995, a death warrant was signed by Governor Tom Ridge, which sparked one of the most effective organizing efforts in defense of a political prisoner ever. Since that time, Mumia has had his death sentence overturned, but still has a life sentence with no opportunity for parole.

Mumia has a number of health issues as a result of medical neglect while in prison, and was recently diagnosed with COVID, lending a new urgency to the ongoing campaign for his freedom.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding Mumia as a contact by searching his name or “AM8335”.

Birthday: April 24

Address:

Smart Communications/PA DOC
Mumia Abu-Jamal
SCI Mahanoy
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida 33733

Janiis Mathis

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now given up on its attempts to charge Mathis in relation to the Vaughn uprising, he is facing continued retaliation, as he has been moved out of state to Pennsylvania, where many Vaughn defendants are being held on lockdown indefinitely (via placement on PA’s Restricted Release List) on vague and questionable grounds. Years after the uprising, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NU0423”.

Birthday: April 24

Address:

Smart Communications / PA DOC
Janiis Mathis – NU0423
SCI Greene
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL, 33733

Freedom of Movement

Submission

Seeing the crowded conditions in the concentration camps in Texas reminds me of Inauguration Day two months ago. That night we rose like lions striking at slumbering poachers.

We found a Customs and Border Protection SUV and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement SUV in a parking garage in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia. They were redecorated with paint, flattened tires, and shattered windows. Wouldn’t you know it? That advice that an awl can more quietly deflate a tire when pushed through its sidewall was right. And in a pinch, the awl can also be used to break the same vehicle’s glass. This tool can be found at most any hardware store.

So much of this settler-colonial empire’s origins can be traced to this very neighborhood. Paternal participants in slavery and genocide negotiating the imaginary lines that would cross so many living beings decreed their authority here, attempting to halt and erase so much life. The continuation of those programs crosses party lines as easy as capital does the border, and Democrats are as deserving of our fury as Republicans. Freedom cannot be attained beneath their thumbs or anyone else’s.

Another predator has settled in to his position as overseer, accompanied by an officer of law and order. Between them they have personally authored and been party to so much gendered and racialized violence, which is inherent to the nation-state. Don’t mistake what appears to be silence for inaction, because we’ve been busy. But this is a reminder that you don’t need to wait for a protest to interfere with the functions of this country, especially as so many return to resting on their heels. It’s imperative that we don’t wait and we support each other with words and actions.

 

For the destruction of this and every other empire.

For anarchy.

FTP Banner and Communique from Revolutionary Abolitionists in Harrisburg, PA

Submission

To our comrades in Philadelphia, Rockford and across the so-called United States,

In the wake of the election and the subsequent putsch on the Capitol, the establishment and media apparatus have set out to douse memory of the multi-racial insurgency that spread across the country last summer and dampen the social contradictions that lead to it with slogans of calm and unity. Harrisburg was not been exempt from this revisionist trend in the slightest. During the summer, grifters and Black counter insurgents tried to funnel the long growing discontent into dead end electoralism and the bureaucratic machinations that grind the ember of revolutionary change in their gears at any given opportunity. In spite of this, the community rose up in defiance of both law enforcement and their neoliberal lapdogs in ways that have not been seen here in recent memory – cop cars smashed, streets shut down and police forced into retreat by a hail of bricks and debris.

As the heat of the summer lowered (relatively) to a tempered simmer and the electoral distraction served its role as sociological vacuum, the city’s leadership set its agenda on almost completely ignoring the events of the past year in order to return to some prelapsarian concept of normal – (a state which if it existed would be an amoral hellpit by any honest summation)- the exception of course, being their ongoing plan of repression against the true revolutionaries who participated in the uprising. At writing, there remains many ongoing struggles in the courts for the freedom of participants charged for their participation in the protests, both in Harrisburg and elsewhere. This is particularly disheartening as the loss of momentum of the movement from the summer means individual cases are harder to rally around, making intercommunal support from committed radicals that much more important.

Congruently, the local prison system has been revealed as the cauldrons of deathrot we have always known them to be. As Covid cases spike, the prison refuses to provide hand sanitizer, soap, masks and other lifesaving supplies to its inmates, resulting in the languishing of dozens of incarcerated people. What’s worse, there have been recent reports of widespread sexual abuse of inmates by guards, as well as many other violations of dignity, aided by an M.O. cultivated by deposed Warden Brian Clark, a well documented sex pest in his own right.
We are not liberals. We are appalled but not shocked by the injustice system acting as it always has no matter what century, context or administration – forever a punitive apparatus to repress the colonized and exploited for the benefit of a racist carceral state. Whether a red or blue chain, the shackle remains the same. Recognition of this basic fact informs our work building a culture of resistance to the inevitable crackdown on abolitionists and revolutionaries by the neoliberal state operating in the name of “fighting extremism”.

We believe that times like this, the seeming lulls between mass protests, uprisings and other sparks of civil unrest are as ,and possibly even more important than those moments of social fissure and are probably not even be so neatly disconnected as they may be initially perceived. It is of the upmost importance that we are expanding our networks, supporting our comrades , and deepening our roots in the communities we live in order to create a movement capable of not only sustaining itself in the calm, but also protecting itself when the pigs come knocking. This means building community defense councils and war chests to support our accomplices kidnapped and harassed by the State through every stage of their struggle. It is equally important to deny space and momentum to obvious opportunists and collaborators who attempt to swallow the flame of radical change through cooptation and subterfuge with the intent to isolate radicals and those members of the community willing to take justice into their own hands. This commitment lives and dies on solidarity with those most affected, and this communique is an representation of that commitment.

We unfurled this banner calling for the end to abuse of prisoners in Dauphin County Prison and mass release of all incarcerated in the death camps of Pennsylvania and across the United Snakes. We also want to uplift the connected struggle of the movement, in order to echo the many voices calling for dropped charges for all and add to the cacophony of dissent against the police state. Finally, we uplift the demands of the Black Philly Radical Collective to for the immediate release of Mumia Abu Jamal, Major Tillery, Arthur Cetawayo Johnson, Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, Omar Askia, Joseph “Jo-Jo” Bowen, and all Black Political Prisoners.

We demand that all protestors across the country be granted amnesty. All charges must be dropped. We have unconditional solidarity to all rebels, radicals and revolutionaries facing State repression.

Free Them All.

Fuck DCP, Fuck Warden Clark and Fuck 12 Forever

Say no to the new Cointelpro!

Black Liberation Now.

Fire to the Prisons, Set the Captives Free.

Student Group Draws Attention to Bigoted Social Media Posts Made By Kutztown University Police Officer Alan Swartz

from Community Research Opposing HatePictures of Swartz.Alan Swartz, a Bigot in Kutztown University’s Police Department

On February 3rd 2021, a student group called Kutztown University Activists (KUA) released a trove of racist, Islamophobic, transphobic, and conspiracy-driven public Facebook posts by Kutztown University Police Officer Alan Swartz. The content was shared to KUA’s Instagram account along with a petition and call for accountability in response to Swartz’s clear prejudice and bias. The student demands included not only the removal of Officer Swartz from KU’s Police Department, but also the creation of an accountability board comprised of students, faculty, and staff; a board with the power to discipline university police who engage in wrongdoing or display overt bias. Swartz has been with the department since 2012.

On February 3rd, Swartz’s Facebook page was public for anyone to see. The posted content included images supporting Kyle Rittenhouse, a teenager who crossed state lines with an illegally acquired rifle, murdered two racial justice activists, and critically injured a third at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, WI. This post referred to Black Lives Matter activists with racially charged language. A second post featured a Confederate flag, with derogatory language painting those who understand the white supremacist roots of the flag as ignorant of history. This line of neo-confederate thinking is rampant among far-right bigots. It stems from the racist historical revisionism of “lost cause” ideology perpetuated by the Daughters of the Confederacy and other neo-confederate groups after the Civil War. Another post is riddled with content demeaning transgender individuals, immigrants, and abortion rights.

Screenshots of QAnon, Confederate, and far right militia propaganda shared by Swartz
Screenshot of KUA’s Instagram page.

Alan Swartz also posted Islamophobic content to his Facebook page, including memes claiming Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib — Muslim women of color and democratically elected members of Congress — are ISIS sleeper agents. Conspiracy theories falsely defaming progressive Muslim women such as Omar and Tlaib are common refrains among the xenophobic far-right in the so-called United States.

Screenshots of Islamophobic memes shared by Swartz
Screenshot of KUA’s Instagram page.

Additionally, Swartz’s posts displayed his belief in a false conspiracy peddled by the fascist MAGA and Patriot movements; namely, that the coup attempt these groups carried out at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 was a false flag operation. Any analysis of the individuals charged for their role in the coup attempt reveals that nearly every person who breached the Capitol were supporters of the former President who believed they were acting on his explicit orders. And reporting by major publications and independent journalists alike has proven that the attacks on the building were planned and orchestrated by far-right individuals and organizations such as The Proud Boys.

Swartz's shares and posts in support of the January 6th coup.
Disclaimer: The above is a screenshot of KUA’s Instagram post. CROH recommends against the use of anti-terror rhetoric in reporting of the January 6th event. We have previously referred to the event as a riot and an attempted coup, with the latter being more accurate given the involvement of many law enforcement and military personnel, both active and retired.

Anathema Volume 7 Issue 2

From Anathema

Volume 7 Issue 2 (PDF for reading 8.5 x 11)

Volume 7 Issue 2 (PDF for printing 11 x 17)

In this issue:

  • Polluted Currents & Relations To Water
  • What Went Down
  • Cop Blotter
  • Two Prisoners
  • Let Us Bury Our Fangs In The Skin Of The Heteropatriarchy
  • Return Of The Welfare State?
  • Nuclear Costs
  • Infrastructure
  • Series Of Attacks On cars In The PNW
  • Call For Submissions
  • A Letter From A Jail Cell
  • Questions For Poets

March discussions: bolo’bolo, virtual and in reality

from Viscera

The weather is getting nicer, so we’re doing two discussions this month on the same reading! We’ll be revisiting (or, for some of us, reading for the first time) the classic work of anarchist utopia that’s neither, bolo’bolo.

bolo’bolo is also a modest proposal for the new arrangements on the spaceship after the Machine’s disappearance. Though it started as a mere collection of wishes, a lot of considerations about their realization have accumulated around it. bolo’bolo can be realized world-wide within five years, if we start now. It guarantees a soft landing in the second reality. Nobody will starve, freeze or die earlier than today in the transition period. There’s very little risk.

For those who prefer (or require) an online discussion, we’ll be meeting on jitsi in the room viscerapvd on Sunday, March 21st at 1-3 pm. Get in touch with us for the password!

We’ll also be doing an in-person discussion one week later on Sunday, March 28th in Clark Park (meet near the chess tables) from 1-3 pm.

This reading is a bit long, so we recommend staring early! It’s a lot of fun, and we’re looking forward to seeing people in one form or another for the discussion!