Reportback: Philly Sends KKK Packing, Pays KSS a Visit

Saturday was a bad day to be a Fascist in Philly.

Thanks to One People’s Project, Philly Antifa was alerted, less than 48 hours before, to a planned rally by several sects of the Ku Klux Klan in the city.

The KKK is extremely fragmented these days, so for an explanation of those involved we turn to DLJ over at One People’s Project:

“According to some reports, the threat of a Klan rally was brewing for just over a month in the Tacony section of Philadelphia after a local Grand Dragon was kicked out of a town watch organization. According to Joe Nicoletti of the Tacony/Holmesburg Town Watch, The East Coast Knights of the True Invisible Empire have been trying to start their own town watches, and have been trying to recruit within established committees such as his. When he discovered this among his own ranks, his town watch removed the person. In response, the Klan groups wanted to come out to the neighborhood in a “show of force” to support him. There was no public call or any messages on the internet announcing the event, but a permit was filed with the city. Police officials said they could not release the name of the person who filed the permit.

The Klansmen boasted upwards (of) 80 Klansmen were to participate with a number of high profile speakers on hand, but in the end only seven stood on the steps of the Tacony Library on the corner of Torresdale and Knorr. Among them were Richard Preston, Imperial Wizard of the Confederate White Knights of Rosedale, Md., which as only been in existance for three years, The Knights of the Nordic Order, which was founded by former Aryan Brotherhood members, and other Klansmen from Virginia and Western Pennsylvania. The East Coast Knights banner was unfurled during the rally.”

Thanks, DLJ

Despite almost no notice, over 60 people turned out to protest against the Klan. That number started as a handful but continued to grow as word spread throughout the neighborhood and people came out to join Philly Antifa, One People’s Project and their fellow Anti-Racists.

The rally was typical Klan fare these days: they had 7 people, a permit and police escort. They were slated to rally for 2 hours but were there for about 45 minutes. No one heard a word they said over the boos and jeers. Someone had also written a sign that said “honk if you hate the KKK” which elicited plenty of honks. The Klan left hurriedly. They didn’t even bother to talk shit except once inside their cars speeding away. But that wasn’t the end of the day for Antifa.

Instead, about 2 dozen people from the crowd got to talking about something: the fact that local Neo-Nazi organizers Bryan and Patricia Vanagaitis lived only a few blocks away. Together we walked over there to 6611 Ditman st. and said hello.

The crowd chanted “DEATH DEATH DEATH TO THE NAZIS” and “THIS IS OUR COMMUNITY NAZIS OUT NAZIS OUT” out front and spoke with the Vanagaitis’ neighbors, informing those who were unaware of their affiliations. Eventually it became clear that no one was coming out even though they answered the door when the cops knocked.

10492432_10204066027392596_332865763508862084_n — The Vanagaitis’ house. Hung above the porch was an Italian flag with a Fasces on it, a Fascist symbol associated with Mussolini.

Despite claims by KSS that they “prefer to be in the streets” in 2012 Greek Nazi Zine, the Vanagaitis’ passed on our invitations to come outside. In the same interview, the KSS member says that “The reds (meaning anyone who opposed fascism) in America are often times young, spoiled, suburban kids with no real desire to be face to face with us, or people of other groups…” (Omerta Terror Machine #28)

Well, guess 2012 WAS a long time ago…

Fuck a klan. In Philly we all fam. — What’s a Klan to our fuckin fam?

May 27, 2014January 10, 2017

Philadelphia KSS Associate Sexually Assaults Woman and Steals Her Car Before Crashing It Into Wall, Killing Self

Vincent Pellegrino on the left, pictured also on the right along with his brother Nunzio (wearing the KSS Supporter shirt in the back) and Philly KSS member Joey Phy in front of Nunzio.

As One People’s Project has reported (as well as Philly.com and the Philadelphia Inquirer) Keystone State Skinheads (KSS) associate Vincent Pellegrino died on the morning of May 20th while fleeing the scene after sexually assaulting a woman in the 2600 Block of Collins Street.

Pellegrino crashed the car, which belonged to the woman he assaulted, into a wall along Westmoreland street and was pronounced dead at the scene minutes later. It is unknown whether he lost control of the car or intentionally crashed.

KSS (also known as Keystone United) had been trying desperately to fix their brand in recent years, changing between the two names frequently, and claiming in interviews that their acts of violence are all in the past. They would have us believe that these days they are just concerned nationalists. This incident demonstrates once again that KSS members and supporters are the scum of the earth, and no amount of careful media planning or timid behavior in public will make people forget this.

The Pellegrino brothers are both listed on the 6400 Block of Ditman street, only a few blocks from KSS members Patricia and Bryan Vanagaitis. Nunzio was the KSS supporter who recently attended a rally against Russian intervention in Ukraine. KSS members and other Neo-Nazis are lamenting Pellegrino’s death on social media and making absolutely no mention of the assault.

Rape and sexual assault are a global crisis. As much as we would love to blame it on Fascism, rapists (overwhelmingly but not always male) will claim to follow all sorts of political ideologies. What we can confidently say is that Fascism is and always has been a sexist and anti-woman movement.

“Woman’s world is her husband, her family, her children and her home. We do not find it right when she presses into the world of men.” – Adolph Hitler

Fuck you, Hitler.

Antifascists must support reproductive freedom, personal autonomy, an end to rape and rape culture, and oppose patriarchy and sexism. If we ignore those things in favor of making alliances with sexists who may be Anti-Nazi, we doom our movement to destroy itself with toxic people, as happens within Fascist movements routinely.

By now most of you have heard about the Misogynist murder spree of Elliott Rodgers, a so-called “nice guy” who was in reality a murderous sexist and racist to boot. Rodgers felt entitled to murder women for the “crime” of not wanting to sleep with him. He lamented online about how he couldn’t compete sexually with “inferior” black men. He had weapons and choose to turn them against unsuspecting young women because he felt entitled to do so.

Philly Antifa believe that we can live in a world without men like Elliott Rodgers and Vincent Pellegrino. That racism, sexism and hetero-patriarchy were concepts not borne from nature but intentionally engineered into our social and religious institutions as forms of control that have since become “tradition” or “just the way it is.” The fights against those evils are all unique and require different analysis and tactics, but they will either all be won or all be lost.

May 22, 2014

Leif Ericson Day Attendees Exposed

As we’ve written about before, every October for the past 7 years Neo-Nazis have converged on Philadelphia and held a “Leif Ericson Day Celebration” that is in reality an attempt to have a real street presence in Philadelphia for even just one day a year. Opposition to the event has increased pretty much every year, with last year’s being especially embarrassing to the boneheads because they had brought friends from as far as Texas and still could not match the numbers of the Antifascists, who prevented them from marching and drowned out their rally, sending the boneheads home with nothing to show for their efforts.

Shortly after the event we released the names and pictures of almost all the attendees, as well as listed their affiliations to KSS, Blood and Honour, The Vinlanders, and several other White Power organizations. We have also outed the primary organizers of the event and their locations in the city.

Philly Antifa, in conjunction with #Anonymous & #ro0ted #OpAntifa now bring you more attendees of Leif Ericson Day 2013’s real name and most recent known address.

Anthony James Olsen, Philly Director of KSS, 2912 Knorr Street, Philadelphia PA

Patricia Benner Vanagaitis and Bryan Vanagaitis, Philly KSS. 6611 Ditman Street, Philadelphia PA

Patrick Rogers, KSS Supporter. 815 Wilson St Williamsport, PA 17701

Joseph Phy, KSS - 4838 Salmon St., Philadelphia PA — Joseph Phy, KSS – 4838 Salmon St., Philadelphia PA

Elizabeth and Michael Marcink - Vinlanders - 11340 W. Shipshewana IN — Elizabeth and Michael Marcink – Vinlanders – 11340 W. Shipshewana IN

Donald M. Palmer - Blood and Honour - 211 S. 7th St., Unit A, Jeanette PA — Donald M. Palmer – Blood and Honour – 211 S. 7th St., Unit A, Jeanette PA

Brien James - Head of Vinlanders - 2507 English Avenue, Indianapolis, IN — Brien James – Head of Vinlanders – 2507 English Avenue, Indianapolis, IN

Patrick D. Westfall - Vinlanders - 4922 State Road 25 W, Lafayette IN — Patrick D. Westfall – Vinlanders – 4922 State Road 25 W, Lafayette IN

Matthew Heimbach - Founder of Traditionalist Youth Movement - 19616 Selby Ave, Poolesville, MD 20837. Allegedly recently moved in to a house with fellow TYN member Thomas Buhls at 3382 West Spruce Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403. — Matthew Heimbach – Founder of Traditionalist Youth Movement – 19616 Selby Ave, Poolesville, MD 20837. Allegedly recently moved in to a house with fellow TYN member Thomas Buhls at 3382 West Spruce Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403.

Jay Butterbaugh, Blood and Honour - 111 Elm Avenue, Hollidaysburg, PA — Jay Butterbaugh, Blood and Honour – 111 Elm Avenue, Hollidaysburg, PA

David “Matt” Parrot – Traditionalist Youth Network – 1145 Golfview Dr., Apartment F, Carmel, IN — David “Matt” Parrot – Traditionalist Youth Network – 950 S. Ridgecrest Lane, Paoli, IN 47454

Kevin McKeegan – KSS Supporter, Active with Council of Conservative Citizens and European American Action Coalition, a group founded by KSS chairman Steve Smith. 149 New Street, Glenside, PA 19038

We would like to call on local Antifa in these towns to pick up this fight and use this info to gather more intelligence to better combat your local Nazis. Their movements rely on anonymity; do not allow them to have it.

Philly Antifa would like to make it clear to the people listed below that coming to our city and contributing to KSS’ attempts to gain a foothold here, even for one ineffective day, is a provocation that will be met. Our allies are legion. All your friends do is invite you to get embarrassed and then targeted.

November 12, 2013

ALEX STUCK of TP5 FREE – STATEMENT FROM HIM

From SS-ARA Blog:

Dear friends and comrades,

Sorry it’s taken me so long to put this out. I’ve been working on my transition back in to the world and so far everyone has been great with helping me out with everything. I kinda feel like a new born, HA. Anyway, I just wanted to write something and post it up for everyone to see that I’m out now and am doing ok. Most of all I want to say thank you to everyone for helping me with everything during my incarceration. It’s still so very surreal. Prison was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but people like all of you who exist with your endless love: I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I would also like to thank you for all the help you’ve been giving my four friends during their stint in Dante’s Inferno. It’s really hard to put into words how much all of you mean to me. Because of you I’ve been able to survive and stay strong. Your solidarity continues to leave me speechless. I want to thank you for all the books and amazing letters that I received. I hope my letters made it to you. I did my best to personally write everyone back and if you didn’t here back from me it’s prolly because the gestopo was withholding my mail. I want to personally thank the whole A.R.A. network, Denver, New York, and south side ABC, and every other chapter in between; Kieran (your mom’s books are great), Philly antifa, Kat from Oak Roots Press, all the kids in Germany, Allina Dollot in France, and especially my home crew in Lafayette and Bloomington (you guys are the best!), my big brothers NOMAD and TELLY; oh and my homie Petey from Sacramento Prisoner Support. Last but not least I wanna thank two very special people that I hold very dear to my heart: Stephanie from the Bloomington ABC and Sara Garber, my amazing lawyer. If I believed in guardian angels I would be convinced that you two were the real deal… I love you both soooooo fucking much! Thank you to anyone who wrote a letter; went to a fundraiser; made a visit; told some one about our case; and kept me, John, Jason, Cody, and Dylan in your hearts. All of you mean so much to me; without you all of this would have been a nightmare. Thank you so, so much!

H.A.R.M. SKIN for life!

ANTIFA FOREVER! FOREVER ANTIFA! FREEDOM NOW FOR THE TINLEY PARK 4!!!!!!

Love and Rage,
Alex Stuck

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Welcome home Alex. Everyone is so happy you are free.

Love,

Philly Antifa

October 25, 2013

“Hey Bonehead, If the Cops Weren’t Here You Would be Getting Fucked Up Right Now:” A Reportback From Leif Erikson Day 2013

On October 19th, 2013 a coalition of Neo-Nazis from as far away as Texas, massed together by the Blood and Honour network and led by the Keystone State Skinheads (KSS), converged on Philadelphia with the intention to march in formation through Faimrount park and rally at the statue of Thorfin Karlsefni.

From the moment they (numbering 30-40) arrived at the top of lemon hill the boneheads knew they were in for a long day. They were immediately set upon by an equal number of protestors who hurled insults and abuse at them and the police protecting them. At first Philly KSS head A.J. Olsen was pleasantly surprised at the turnout by Anti-Racists, but had his hopes deflated as moments later another 100+ protestors made their way up Lemon Hill and blocked their march route, linking arms and chanting “DEATH, DEATH, DEATH TO THE NAZIS…”

Civil Affairs police attempted to force their way past the bloc of Antifascists, who refused to give way. After several attempt to circumvent or push through the bloc, a few of the Nazi organizers frantically attempted to salvage the situation. Eventually they chose to abandon their attempts to march completely and instead to just walk down Lemon Hill in pairs and individuals with their own police escorts. Never has the old chant “the cops and klan go hand in hand” looked so literal.

This created what must have been the strangest and most exciting moment of the day, when the 200+ demonstrators, 30+ Nazis and 50+ civil affairs police met in a large mass, strolling down lemon hill together. One Antifa ripped the banner KSS has brought from their hands. One instantly-legendary lady Antifascist grabbed Vinlanders Social Club founder Brien James by the neck and arm and pulled him down until a civil affairs officer stepped in to rescue him from her. There were several more scuffles like that and by the time the Nazis reached the bottom of the hill the protestors had formed up in front of the statue while others enveloped the Nazis and cops on all sides.

boneheadsnitching — Two Boneheads trying to snitch on an Antifascist who had torn one of the poles off their banner to the cops that were protecting them. No surprise there they snitch on each other so often. Fortunately, the Antifa escaped arrest.

The Nazis attempted to put on a brave face but were clearly rattled. Several of them made short speeches in a bullhorn but were drowned out by the jeering crowd of protestors and Antifascists. Brien James had the nerve to claim that we had “failed” to prevent them from holding their event, conveniently ignoring the fact that without the police protection they would have gotten stomped out the second they left their cars on lemon hill. Well, Brien, I guess that depends on how you define failure. For example, someone might say that when a group holds a march in formation for 6 years and then on the 7th is forced to run down the hill holding the hands of police detectives, one might call that a failure. When a group tries to lay wreath at a statue and cannot for five consecutive years because of a mass of people in opposition to them blocking their way, one might call that a failure. When the supposed largest Network of Neo-Nazis in this whole world can only mobilize 30-40 boneheads willing to show their faces in Philadelphia, scraping the bottom of the barrel (Aryan Teror Brigade, Advanced White Society and NSM, really?) and going as far as Texas for support, one might call THAT a failure.

Unfortunately, outside of light scuffling the Nazis escaped unscathed thanks to the police. Fortunately, there were no arrests.

Some of the Nazis who made the trip to Fairmount to be humiliated include:

ajolsenheadshot — Anthony James Olsen, Philadelphia Director of KSS and organizer of LED

patvaginaface — Bryan P. Vaganaitis, Philly KSS

patmcdonaldorsomeshit — Patrick Rogers, KSS Supporter who lives in Williamsport, PA

heidimccarthyheadshot — Heidi McCarthy, KSS Supporter

ryankss — Ryan Wojitowicz, a member of the American Freedom Party and European American Action Coalition, support of KSS. Lives in Nanticoke, PA

Patricia Vanagaitis. Married to and lives with Bryan.

sadbonehead8 — William “Bill” Decker. Active with Vinlanders and Blood and Honour. Lives in Rockton, PA. Works at Horizontal Well Drillers in Luthersville, PA. Their number is (814) 583-5074.

Elizabeth & Mikey Marcink VSC — Mikey Marcink. Active with Vinlanders. Pictured here with wife and fellow Nazi Elizabeth Marcink. They live in Shipshewana, IN.

sadbonehead7 — Michael Rohrich, active with Blood and Honour and Vinlanders. Lives in York, PA. From Fayetville, NC originally.

Donald Palmer VSC — Donald Palmer, Vinlanders. Lives in Irwin, PA

bryanjames — Brien James, Founder of Vinlanders. Lives in Indianapolis.

sadbonehead5 — Patrick D. Westfall, Vinlanders

Dan Hansard VSC Driving — Don Hansard, Vinlanders. His jacket said Oklahoma but he lives in Arlington, TX and is from Florida originally.

mattheimbach — Matt Heimbach, founder of Traditionalist Youth Movement

sadbonehead2 — James Hastings, KSS Supporter

Ron Sheehy, member of Advance White Society from Tremley Point, NJ.

elizabetmcgill — Elizabeth McGrill, KSS Supporter. Why are all of these people named Pat, Matt, Brian or Elizabeth?

jaybutterbaugh — Jay Butterbaugh, Blood and Honour. Lives in Holidaysburg, PA

mattparrotheadshot — Matt Parrot, Traditionalist Youth Network

kevinmckeeganheadshot — Kevin McKeegan, supporter of KSS. Active with EAAC and CCC. Lives in New Jersey

As per usual, we accept any and all verifiable intelligence on these clowns.

This is only another battle in the war against Blood and Honour. No one is buying this shit about a “Kinder, Gentler White Nationalist” except for idiots who believe what they read in the Philadelphia Weekly. The rest of us know what you do and what you’re about. You claim the random racist and homophobic/transphobic violence is all in the past?

That is a picture from this years’ Leif Erikson Day Celebration. Notice anything interesting, other than what that one lady is wearing? Seriously, she looks like she just woke up from 1985. But no, not her:

The bonehead walking next to Jay Butterbaugh is wearing an Aryan Terror Brigade bandanna. Two Aryan Terror Brigade members were convicted LAST AUGUST of attacking two Egyptian men in a random racist attack in New Jersey following a SOCIAL GATHERING of Neo-Nazis, not unlike Leif Erikson Day. Oh, and Aryan Terror Brigade was also started by this man.

We have no intention of letting Philadelphia be a rallying location for Blood and Honour, KSS, or any of these other little fucking crews of douche bags watering down their politics for the T.V. cameras and puffing out their chests. Oh, and those of you that who were too cowardly to actually even show up in Fairmount and just went to the after-party:

KSS Founder and Chairman Steve Smith, center.

You don’t get a pass either.

See You Soon,

Philly Antifa

July 22, 2013

Police Arrest Another Antifascist For Alleged Involvement in Tinley Park Incident

Jason Hammond, longtime Antifascist activist and brother of imprisoned Anonymous hacker Jeremy Hammond.

Sad news from Chicago (taken from here):

Dear friends,  As you may have heard, a valued member of our community has been taken away from us. Jason Hammond was arrested July 11 for allegedly being involved in an altercation between an anti-racist group and white supremacists in Tinley Park, IL over a year ago.  

We are asking for your support so Jason can have a fair chance to fight this case from outside prison. Jason is an active member of our community who is committed to helping people through music, teaching and social justice activism.He is currently being held at Cook County Jail with an unreasonably high bail of $100,000 cash. This means that 100% of the bail amount must be paid for Jason’s freedom.   

Every donation counts! Small donations are currently being used for his commissary and legal fees. If you are considering pledging a large amount of money, you should know that this will be a loan and that it will be returned upon sentencing. Please forward this message widely and rapidly so that we can return Jason to his loved ones as soon as possible.

  For Pledges Contact: jasonhammonddefensecommittee@gmail.com  

-Jason Hammond Defense Committee

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On a personal note, we at Philly Antifa are saddened and outraged to hear about this ridiculous persecution of Jason. For us his “guilt” of being involved in shutting down a major meeting of individuals representing several Neo-Nazi organizations (which we doubt seriously) is not the issue. Maybe Jason is an innocent victim of targeting by law enforcement because of his and/or his brother’s activism. Maybe he is one of the courageous antifascists who stormed that restaurant. Either way he deserves our support.

You can donate to Jason’s Bail fund here or by visiting the Prisoner Support page.

Free The Tinley Park ~~Five~~ SIX and all Prisoners.