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.

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.