Note: This will be a regular feature. Check back for more updates about scum operating in our area.

Robert Gaus has been a Neo-Nazi bonehead since the late 80’s. He co-founded the Keystone State Skinheads (KSS), also known as Keystone United (KU) or the Be Active Front (BAF). We have written extensively on here about KSS and their members’ history of assault, rape and murder all while publically representing themselves as a non-violent organization.

Gaus is an alcoholic who was in court recently for his 3^rd DUI charge. He was facing up to two years in prison but was still out as of October 25^th’s secretly-organized “Leif Erikson Day Celebration” event in Philadelphia. Gaus pled guilty alongside fellow Nazis Doug Sonier and Joseph Hoesch for assault for a 2002 assault in a Diner in Feasterville, PA after a man asked them to stop throwing food at his table. Gaus is always at the Leif Ericson Day celebrations in Philly and almost any other Neo-Nazi event in PA.

“In 2001, Gaus was arrested on charges that he was in possession of a firearm with its serial number altered. He was arrested again on a simple assault charge that was dismissed. In 2011, he was arrested on his first drunk driving infraction.”

Gaus runs a clothing company called Brutal Force Athletics. He registered the company as a trademark, listing his address as 5970 LINGLESTOWN RD HARRISBURG, PA 17112-1126.

Gaus works as a bouncer at a Savanah’s on Hannah strip club located at 1000 Hannah St., Harrisburg PA. We would like to encourage our readers to call the club at 717-233-1100 and register your complaint that they would have a founder and leader of a Neo-Nazi organization with a history of rape, murder and assaults around their dancers and patrons. We would also like to ask our readers help us in exposing Brutal Force Athletics as being run by a Neo-Nazi scumbag.

Brutal Force athletics has a public (for now) facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/272495446179838/

Be aware that the page has a good amount of Neo-Nazis on it, which is not a surprise. It also has people who seem to have no knowledge of Gaus’ affiliations or past. This is information that should interest them.

Gaus is reportedly engaged to Valerie Simmons, another longtime Neo-Nazi who was previously in a relationship with Owen Carr of the Atlantic City “Skinheads” (ACS) before Carr’s untimely death.

According to sources within KSS, Gaus’ ex-wife left him citing repeated infidelity and neglect among other reasons and took their two daughters to Hawaii. Gaus has another two children from a former partner who is now deceased.

Update 10/28/2014: Predictably and pathetically, the day after this post a group of around 15-20 Boneheads associated with KSS from as far as Indiana showed up in Fairmount Park and posed for photos. DLJ has the full story at One People’s Project, but we got news for you boneheads: holding a secret celebration on October 25th for a Holiday that is October 9th may be a good way to avoid opposition, but it isn’t an effective way to grow your movement. With that in mind, we are not going to change the headline or body of text of this article.

The Leif Erikson Day Celebration was an event held in Philadelphia every year since 2007 that brought Neo-Nazis from all over the country to our city under the guise of celebrating a Nordic Explorer.   It was, in reality, an attempt by the Keystone State “Skinheads” to hold a public presence in Philadelphia, if only for one day a year, while pushing their “family friendly” brand of Neo-Nazism.

Antifa Philadelphia is pleased to announce that, following their embarrassing defeat last year, KSS did not hold their Leif Erikson Day event in 2014, choosing instead to rally against illegal immigration in Mossic, PA alongside local republicans and militia members. Daryl from One People’s Project has more info about that event and a grassroots opposition already developing out there to KSS.

This is a significant victory. This event was a feather in the cap of KSS. In previous years it drew upwards of 75 hardcore Nazi Boneheads and some years it drew little to no opposition at all. Groups that had attended the event in the past included the Vinlanders Social Club, Blood and Honour, Advanced White Society, The Hated Skins, The Aryan Terror Brigade, Volksfront the Blood and Honour. Unlike most public events organized by Nazis, KSS was able to avoid large opposition to Leif Ericson Day by carefully hiding their real affiliations and goals. Until last year.

Antifa Philadelphia made it a goal to put a stop to Leif Erikson Day for good. We participated in a coalition of groups known as Residents Against Racism who rallied over 200 people to protest KSS. A blockade of Antifascists stopped the Nazis from holding their traditional “march” down Lemon Hill, forcing them to break ranks and be marched down hand in hand by Philly PD.  Sources within KSS tell us the event was considered a huge embarrassment and waste of resources by most of the Nazis who attended. But that was only the beginning.

Following LED, Antifa Philadelphia launched “Operation: Full Consequences.” We exposed almost every person who attended the event. We outed the band that played the after-party and who are Nazis themselves, Norsewind, and got them removed from at least one show, with more to come. We took the fight to KSS where they live and exposed them to their neighbors, driving one of their members to renounce the group entirely and another 2 members to move out of the city. It’s no surprise that when October rolled around again this year, KSS would quietly post a “Happy Leif Erikson Day” message on their blog with no mention of the event having ever existed.

It is worth noting that in one previous year KSS did not hold their event, and then threw together a quick photo op in Fairmount Park after Antifascists called them out.  It is irrelevant whether a handful of Nazis manage to secretly converge at a statue for a half an hour.  The fact that KSS is not able to openly organize or rally and are forced to maneuver in secret is in itself a victory that makes it clear that Philly will not be safe territory for fascists.

It is important to recognize and savor these victories. However, this was just one battle in a war against racism and fascism. Antifa Philadelphia will continue to expose, oppose and confront these groups and their supporters. This fight can be won, and we intend to win.

Love,

Antifa Philadelphia

Drive the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis Out of Philly

Neo-Nazis and members of the KKK are living and organizing in Tacony, and Philadelphia in general.  KKK grand dragon William Walters, who lives at 7111Torresdale, infiltrated a local neighborhood watch until he was discovered and expelled.  Following his expulsion, Walters and several other Klansmen staged a demonstration outside the Tacony library.  With almost no notice, a protest was called and many people from Tacony who happened to just be passing by joined with Anti-Racists to oppose the Klan.

Photos: The KKK Showed Up at the Free Library on Saturday Afternoon

Tacony Ku Klux Klan Rally Shouted-Down by Community Members

Since the rally, Walters has been giving interviews to media advocating for a return to the racism, segregation and sexism of 1860’s America. Walters is also attempting to start his own Klan-run neighborhood watch in Tacony.

Another Racist and Fascist organization operating in the area is the Keystone State Skinheads (KSS), also known as Keystone United (KU) and/or the Be Active Front USA (BAF).  Several members and supporters of KSS live in Philadelphia, some of them in Tacony.  KSS organizes a march and rally in Fairmount Park annually (billed as a “Leif Ericson Day” celebration) and has recently been spotted putting up racist and fascist graffiti around North Philly, some of which has been covered up by
Anti-Fascists.

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/10/21/keystone-state-skinheads-hold-annual-leif-erikson-rally/

http://leifericsondayprotest.wordpress.com/

http://phillyantifa.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/racist-graffiti-in-port-richmond-and-kensington-covered-up-by-antifa/

Like Walters’ Klan group, KSS claims to not be racist or violent.  But like the KKK, members of KSS have been involved in assault, rape and murder, often purely because of the victims race. In fact, the head (and co-founder) of KSS, Steve Smith, is a former Klansman himself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_state_skinheads

In May, a supporter of KSS and former attendee at their Leif Ericson Day event, Vincent Pellegrino, raped a woman in Kensington before driving his car into a wall, killing himself.

http://articles.philly.com/2014-05-22/news/50005035_1_kensington-section-400-block-26-year-old-woman

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dncrime/Alleged-rapist-fleeing-crime-crashes-car-dies.html?c=r

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2014/05/28/keystone-state-skins-associate-dies-in-car-crash-after-fleeing-scene-of-reported-rape/

Vincent’s brother, Nunzio, is a KSS member who as been putting up Nazi and Racist graffiti around Philadelphia. He lives at 6403 Ditman street.

The Philadelphia director of KSS, Anthony James (A.J.) Olsen, lives at 2913 Knorr Street with his girlfriend and KSS Supporter Briana Pietropaula.

Philly KSS member Joseph Phy lives with his partner and fellow Nazi Stacey Sautner at 4383 Salmon Street in Bridesburg.

In good news, shortly after a demonstration by a small group of Tacony residents and Philly Antifa, 2 key organizers for KSS who were also living in Tacony moved out of the city.

Antifa Philadelphia thinks enough is enough.  We are calling on all Anti-Racists, Anti-Fascists, Feminists, GLBT and anyone else opposed to the KKK and KSS organizing and living in our city to join us for a March Against Racists and Rapists through Tacony.

We will gather at the Tacony Library at 6:00pm.

A better world is possible, but not if we have to be dealing with these assholes for the rest of our lives. Be part of the solution to inequality. Be Anti-Fascist.

In Solidarity,
Antifa Philadelphia

WHERE: TACONY LIBRARY, 6742 TORRESDALE AVE, PHILADELPHIA

WHEN: 6:00 PM SHARP September 6th, 2014

On June 21st Philly Antifa and others organized a last-minute protest against a KKK rally in the Tacony section of Phildelphia. After the Klan had come and gone, a contingent of the protest went and held a demonstation outside the home of Patricia and Bryan Vanagaitis, two organizers for Keystone State “Skinheads” (KSS).

KSS released a statement on their blog following the demo, trying very diplomatically to distance themselves from the Klan. They repeatedly state that none of their members or supporters were at the Klan rally that day. They could not, however, bring themselves to say anything negative about the Klan’s 150+ year history of racism, murder, misogyny, rape, and intimidation. Nor did they take that opportunity to apologize for their head and co-founder, Steve Smith, being the in Klan years back. They instead choose to speak about how “outdated” the Klan’s imagery and messaging was.

See, for KSS the only problem with the Klan is they aren’t effective right now. If this country took a bad turn quickly and Klan membership was booming, you can bet these very same KSS boneheads would be marching side by side with them. They were quick to point out that they weren’t rallying with the Klan in front of the Tacony library. Well, they also weren’t out there to show any sort of opposition to them.

Shortly after their statement was released, KSS (under the banner of one of their front groups, the European American Action Coalition or EAAC) participated in a protest against Illegal Immigration in Mossic, PA. The protest was specifically in response to the recent arrival of unaccompanied minors fleeing conditions in their home nations (mostly Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala) directly related to years of hostile American foreign policy and espionage.

As repulsive as the usual arguments against the free movement of people are, they are even more disgusting when directed against children who have traveled thousands of miles in some cases to end up in the hands of the state and as the target of racist vitriol by nationalist schmucks who seem to think that they are dignified for protesting against caring for children who aren’t from around here. I guess it’s no surprise to see Neo-Nazi scumbags like KSS pushing for deportation for the children, seeing as how Pat Rogers was arrested for child endangerment a few months ago so he may have certain distance requirements to maintain when it comes to kids.

Every time they get a chance, KSS harps on how they aren’t your everyday Nazis. They talk about how “Keystone United is a group whose purpose is to enlighten our fellow white men and women while putting them back in touch with their racial identity, which we hope will eventually bring about a much needed unity and sense of common purpose between all white ethnic groups living within this country.” They are quick to talk about how they are against Domestic Violence (like anyone has ever claimed to be for it) and Drug Abuse. What a crock of shit.

This two-faced identity has been part of KSS almost since their inception. KSS was formally created after a a disastrous attempt by a coalition of Neo-Nazis to march through York, PA in 2002. It was in that atmosphere that KSS modeled themselves as a paramilitary organization designed to be an elite squad capable of dealing with Antifascists. They didn’t call marches like York, instead focusing on recruiting young angry fools and trying to assert a street-level presence in their cities. Fighting was fierce in cities all over the state as KSS attempted to take over Punk and Hardcore scenes and were eventually smashed by Antifascists, Punks and Hardcore Kids.

After the decline of the National Alliance caused many Fascists to abandon the cadre structure in favor of a populist approach, as well as soften their National Socialism to “White Nationalism,” KSS began to model themselves as an activist group.

Members of KSS no longer sported inflammatory symbols or attire openly. They appealed to hot issues like immigration and gay marriage to try and win over non-racialist Nationalists and Conservatives. They threw their support behind Ron Paul (many still do) and raised money for his campaigns. They started recruiting Nazis and Racists who weren’t Skinheads and calling their group Keystone United, or KU. They still attempted to have a presence in local music scenes, but (in Philly at least) their past defeats had forced them to accept hiding their affiliations and refraining from open aggression at shows. This was also the period when they began holding their “Leif Ericson Day” celebration in Fairmount Park, an event that has drawn protests most years.

Following the departure of one of their main organizers a few years ago, KSS was inactive in the Philly area for a time. Steve Smith focused on working with the Council of Conservative Citizens and starting EAAC. In the past 3 years, KSS has recently been gyrating back and forth between their two approaches with increasing regularity. Depending on what month it is they might be KSS, EAAC, Keystone United, or one of a number of other front groups. They might be hardcore national socialists or Ron Paul supporters. This is because KSS doesn’t care about integrity or consistency. Their only interest is in trying to gain power or influence over, or acceptance by, their “fellow whites.”

Economics is a red herring. So is immigration, for that matter. What matters to KSS above all is doing anything they can to undermine the fight for race and gender equality.

Philly Antifa is a group whose purpose is to fight for liberation and equality and against Fascism in all its forms. We believe in Solidarity based on shared values and goals, not on constructed notions of whiteness that we should be destroying rather than trying to reinforce.

So, whatever they call themselves, you can bet we will be there to expose, oppose and confront them whenever possible.