A few members of Antifa Philadelphia participated in Tonight’s (8/20) Rally and March in Solidarity with the people of Ferguson resisting the police and national guard called by the Travon Martin Organizing Committee.
From the call:
Another Black man dead. This would be just another day like every other day in America, if it weren’t for one simple fact: Ferguson turned out, stood up, and has refused to get back on its knees.
Mike Brown was days away from college? Don’t care.
Didn’t he steal some cigars? Don’t care.
What about the looters? Don’t care.
Mike Brown was black, guilty of only this, which made him guilty of all else: (jay)walking while black, (back)talking while black, breathing while black. Black like Oscar Grant, black like Kathryn Johnson, black like Renisha Mcbride, black like Eric Garner, like Rodney King, like Emmett Till. All black, and all guilty.
Mike Brown’s life was of value–is of value. Full stop. No college degree makes that so; no robbery takes that away. The people of Ferguson recognize this. White supremacy’s subtle baiting of thievery, college degrees and saggy pants and talking back does not.
We talk back. We turn up. We stand tall. With Ferguson–for Mike, for every black body in America robbed of its right to live–for every injustice that we are growing sick and tired of. We are done with your police/media slander campaigns. We are sick with anger.
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.
Masturbator Race
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.
Gross. Uh, we mean…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.
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)
The KKK,(and possibly Nazis as well), are holding a rally at the Tacony Public Library, located at 6742 Torresdale Ave in Philadelphia, tomorrow from 1pm-3pm. The organizers have a permit. Exact numbers are not known, but fascists will be coming in from rural PA and Maryland. All anti-racists/anti-fascists in the Philadelphia area need to be in attendance tomorrow at a counter demo being organized by Philly Antifa and One People’s Project. The counter demo will be located on the side walk outside the Tacony Public Library, beginning at 1pm. Please forward this alert widely!
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This is really short notice, but the Klan did not announce this demonstration anywhere and we were lucky that One People’s Project was able to find out at all.
The Klan has a permit, which means they will likely be bussed in and out under police protection. We encourage everyone able to attend the protest to do so. Let the Klan and Nazis know that no one is intimidated by them, and remind them what would happen if they should ever stand on a corner in Philadelphia in Klan robes for 2 hours WITHOUT a bunch of Philly PD protecting them.
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.
Death in June, the musical project of British white supremacist Douglas Pearce, is scheduled to perform at the Rex Theater in the South Side of Pittsburgh on May 29th as part of a US tour. Playing a mix of experimental neofolk and post-industrial music, Death in June has a long history of using fascist symbolism and of supporting and raising money for white supremacist groups. Their shows have been shut down in cities across the United States through call-in campaigns and demonstrations. Some venues, including in San Francisco and Los Angeles, have had their locks glued, windows smashed, and facades spraypainted before, during, or after recent Death in June tour dates.We are opposed to Douglas Pearce and his project for both his use of fascist symbolism and for his concrete, prolonged support of white supremacist organizing:
In 1992 during Yugoslavia’s civil war, Douglas Pearce visited the front lines to meet with and show support to Croatian fascist militants and later contributed music recordings to compilation records that helped raise money for fascist military efforts.
That same year, Death in June canceled their appearance at the Dark X-mas festival in Hamburg after organizers issued a statement condemning recent white supremacist attacks on immigrants in Germany. DIJ also refused to play the Festival of Darkness in 1994 because the show was promoted as being against racism and neo-Nazism.
Death in June songs were included in a tribute to Leni Riefenstahl, a director behind some of the most well known propaganda films in Nazi Germany.
Douglas Pearce has repeatedly expressed support for white nationalist and white supremacist Euro-centric movements in interviews.
To disrupt the ability of Death in June and the fascist elements of their fan base to support ongoing white supremacist organizing we are planning a call-in and online campaign to pressure the Rex Theater/Grey Area Productions to shut down this show.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
The Rex Theater is managed by Grey Area Productions. We are unsure if Grey Area is aware of the white supremacist politics of Death in June, and we are encouraging people to call, email, post to their Facebook page and reach out to them on Twitter with this information and to convince them to do the right thing by canceling this show.
The Rex Theater and Grey Area Productions can both be reached by phone at:
“I am e-mailing you to inform you that Death in June, a white supremacist band, is scheduled to play at the Rex Theater on May 29th. This band uses fascist imagery as a part of their shows and has a history of supporting white supremacist movements.
Death in June has been included on various white supremacist music compilations, has backed out of festivals that were raising money to combat neo-Nazism, and has repeatedly expressed support for white nationalist and supremacist movements.
Death in June shows have been protested, sabotaged, and even banned in certain regions for decades. Especially in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, where they have particularly strong neo-Nazi followings.
I have no reason to believe that anyone at the Rex or at Grey Area Productions supports these kinds of politics and actions. However, I hope that Grey Area will do the right thing by canceling this show that will undoubtedly draw white supremacists from around the region as well as anti-racist activists. The Rex Theater has a long history and doesn’t deserve to let one night and one band tarnish its image.
More detailed information on Death in June’s support of white supremacist movements can be found by following these links:
In addition to calling the Roxy to voice their opposition to Death in June playing there, we have learned that the person responsible for bringing the show to Pittsburgh, Manny Theiner, can be reached at 412-361-2262. In addition to booking DIJ, Theiner recently took down flyers at local businesses in the city advertising a letter writing event for Antifascist POW’s the Tinley Park 5 and then slandered the TP5 to the business owners.
From One Peoples Project: The annual ritual of making David Irving’s life miserable is about to begin again! Here’s a refresher: Every year the Holocaust denier and Hitler apologist David Irving comes out to the US from the UK, and attempts to hold meetings and talks to promote his notion that the Nazis were just misunderstood and they didn’t really kill over 11 million innocent people , six million of them the Jews they hated so much. This year, he is going around the country extolling the virtues of Adolf Hitler! (click link for more)
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Irving’s tour begins today in Melbourne, FL. Here is a complete list of the dates and locations.
November 6- Melbourne, FL
November 7- charleston, SC
November 8- Columbia, SC
November 9- Carlotte NC
November 10- Raleigh, NC
November 11- Richmond, VA
Novmeber 15- Washington DC
November 16- Baltimore
November 17- Philadelphia
November 18- Princeton
November 19- Northern NJ
November 22- NYC
November 23- New Haven
November 24-Manchester, NH
November 26-Syracuse, NY
Devcember 1- Cleveland, OH
December 2- Pittsburgh, OH
December 3- Columbus, OH
December 4- Cincinatti, OH
December 6- Indianapoli, IN
December 7- Chicago, Illinois
December 8- St. Louis, MO
December 9- Jackson Missisipi
December 10- Montgomery, AL
December 12- Nashville, TN
December 13- Knoxville, TN
Let’s show David Irving and his Nazi fans that he is not welcome anywhere. If you have any info, or to request info, about any of these events feel free to e-mail us at phillyantifascists@gmail.com.
