Posts Tagged ‘counterinfo for the steel city’

Cracks in the Steel City: Anarchist News from Pittsburgh || J.1 – M.22

Thursday, March 25th, 2021

Cracks in the Steel City is a filler column that recaps local news that anarchists in Pittsburgh may find interesting, with a particular focus on autonomous, illegalist, and insurrectionist activity. We also include information about fascist activity, state repression, and capitalist maneuvering.

All news content is sourced from anonymous submissions & communiques, social media, police reports, or capitalist media outlets. Because of this, all dates are approximates and may vary in accuracy.

Let us know what we missed.

What Went Down

January

  • According to police reports, 69 (nice) vehicles were stolen over the month of January. Capitalist media coverage indicates that the bulk of the vehicles belonged to UberEats drivers operating around the gentrified blocks of East Liberty, with a particular concentration between South Highland Avenue and the Google campus in Bakery Square. Many have been forced into the gig-economy, and while one can empathize with their struggles it is important to acknowledge that resistance to gentrification in East Liberty takes many forms.

January 4

I’m writing today from occupied Cherokee territory to describe a failed action undertaken by myself, inspired by media seen on the Filler Distro social channels.

I received a misdemeanor citation for shoplifting a few hundred dollars worth of merchandise at a big box corporate store, one whose profits have soared since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whose workers have risked their lives for the same meager hourly wage. I was there for supplies for houseless survival kits: items such as backpacks, gloves, a sleeping bag, warm hats, several pairs of pants in various sizes, packages of socks and shirts, deodorant, tampons, toothbrushes and other toiletries in travel sized containers, first aid kits, covid masks, etc. I intended to assemble the supplies into kits and distribute them amongst the local houseless population, which has of course seen a boom recently.

The report goes on to describe exactly what went wrong, what lessons were learned, and then goes on to offer an outline for future strategic thinking.

January 6

Capitalist media reports “Dozens of tires slashed in Butler Co. mall lot after group went to Washington, D.C. [to attend the attempted pro-Trump putsch]. The cars were parked in the Clearview Mall parking lot after the group boarded buses.” The attack disabled dozens of Trumper’s vehicles.

January 13

  • A Sunoco in Bloomfield is robbed at gunpoint.

January 20

  • Filler receives two anonymous submissions regarding two banner-drops.

Banner-drop on the Bigelow pedestrian bridge: NO BORDERS NO WALLS NO PRESIDENTS AT ALL

Banner dropped from the 33rd Street train bridge: WE KEEP US SAFE 412-FUCK-12

January 24

  • A private vehicle with a “we support our Pittsburgh police” sign had its rear windshield smashed out in Lawrenceville.

January 29

On Thursday morning, a collection of autonomous activists blockaded the sole access road to the Shell Polymer’s office in Beaver, PA to protest the transformation of the Ohio Valley into a manufacturing hub for the petrochemical industry. Shell Polymers is a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, and they are constructing an ethane cracking facility in Beaver that will be used to turn fracked gas into plastic.   

February

February 2

  • A WPXI headline reads “Teenagers terrorizing Pittsburgh neighborhood with bizarre crimes, police say.” The reality appears to be that a group of teens are having fun during quarantine by fucking with their white Karen neighbors; stealing their security cameras, setting dumpsters on fire, and pulling fire alarms.
  • Capitalist media reports that a man is arrested for making bomb threats against the federal building in downtown Pittsburgh. The suspect reportedly stated “the government owes me money.” The suspect will be charged with terroristic threats and threat to use weapons of mass destruction.

February 5

  • Local abolitionists launch a campaign to help community members incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail regain access to commissary funds, recreation, showers, and video visits.

February 6

  • Pittsburgh Fash Watch released a community alert, “Crypto-fascists Discovered in Pittsburgh.” The dossier linked is an extensive and well-researched investigation into this local crypto-fascist network.

February 7

  • Capitalist media reports that an off-duty officer plowed his car into a home, injuring two.

February 12

  • Pittsburgh Fash Watch alerts community to continued collaboration between right-wing restaurant The Crack’d Egg and fascist group Iron City CRU.
  • Capitalist media reports that at 7am, a man crashed his pickup into a Sunoco in the Hill District and attempted to steal an ATM. After a few seconds of struggling to load the machine into his truck, surveillance footage shows a bystander try to help. The man drove off without the ATM, but was arrested a short time later on Fifth Avenue in Oakland.

February 14

  • Capitalist media reports that a man was tased and arrested early Sunday morning after assaulting a Pittsburgh Police officer. At some point during the altercation, the accused allegedly managed to pocket the officer’s keys.
  • Capitalist media reports “A Pittsburgh Police officer was taken to the hospital following his cruiser crashing into a home on Pittsburgh’s North Side.”
  • Capitalist media reports that a new phone scam is enjoying moderate success.
  • A Valentine’s Day noise demo takes place outside of Allegheny County Jail. The following report-back circulates social media:

Neither ice nor snow nor forecasted bitterly cold temps kept a big-hearted, masked- and bundled-up crew of some 50 of us from showing up outside Allegheny County Jail tonight to offer lotsa love to those still trapped behind bars. Our #Love4Abolition noise demo included a live band, a capella singing, and sound system tunes, all accompanied by lotsa banging on pots and pans and lotsa dancing, along with two illuminated banners (both with lite-up hearts), mutual aid from legal, medic, and food collectives, and the message pictured here—and best of all, reciprocal dancing, waving, and lights flashing on and off from those inside ACJ. To support ongoing solidarity efforts on the stolen lands of Pittsburgh to lend care to currently and formerly incarcerated folks in numerous ways, check out, get involved with, and/or donate to @jailbreakpgh and @bukitbailfund.

February 15

  • Capitalist media reports that two people were arrested in their vehicle outside of Home Depot with $1,300 in stolen goods.

February 16

  • The Graffiti Task Force releases photos of BATMAN BEYOND suspect.
  • Capitalist media reports that,

A suspect is in custody after shots were fired at a Braddock police officer. As soon as he saw the Braddock police car, he started shooting at him,” Daniele said.

The chief said those bullets only hit the cop car. The suspect then took off, prompting an all-out search from nearly a dozen neighboring departments.

“A dog tracked some snow prints to an abandoned home up here on Lobinger. County officers tracked the rest of it and realized there was a man barricaded in one of the houses up on the hill,” Daniele said.

After SWAT and negotiators took over, that suspect was taken into custody and will be charged.

Daniele told KDKA the man did have a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but it is not life-threatening. Medics did check him out on scene.

During the course of the investigation, the car from the original call was reported stolen.

February 17

  • Capitalist media reported that police are looking for three suspects who stole two vehicles from a car dealership in Washington County. As of this writing, no suspects have been publicly identified.

February 21

  • Filler received the following photo-submission from MUTINY:

February 25

  • Filler receives anonymous report of alt-right graffiti in lawrencville. Shortly after, @pghfashwatch reports that anti-fascists have covered the graffiti.
  • Filler receives the following announcement:

412 Defense Funds is a list of active Pittsburgh felony defense funds related to the 2020 uprising. This site is an autonomous project, unaffiliated with any of the individual campaigns. In solidarity with all defendants. Only the State is guilty. 412defense.noblogs.org

February 26

  • Filler receives the following submission:

    Corinne Rust Belt Tension Duval passed away at the age of 32. In every attack, every trespass, every reading group, every adventure, Corinne is present. She will never be forgotten. The State will feel the weight of our grief.

February 27

  • Filler receives a report that BLEACH has covered transphobic stickers that were spotted earlier in the East End.
  • Capitalist media reports “WESTMORELAND, Pa. — A Pennsylvania man searched for ‘how to set your car on fire and make it look like an accident’ on his cellphone before setting his vehicle aflame, investigators said.”

March

March 1

  • Three gas stations were robbed in under an hour. The first robbery was reported at the Marathon gas station along Penn Avenue in Lawrenceville around 1:25 Monday morning. Investigators say the second robbery was reported at the Shell gas station along Baum Boulevard in East Liberty about 20 minutes later, around 1:45 a.m.

    In two of the robberies, two men, at least one of whom was armed, entered the businesses and demanded money, making off with cash and cigarettes.

    “People are really hurting out here financially. It’s bringing a lot of problems on the workplace and the environment,” an employee told KDKA.

    Pittsburgh Police have not said if it is the same two alleged suspects at each robbery. At this point, there is no description on any suspects.

March 2

  • Capitalist media reports that the Pittsburgh Police are cracking down on people illegally driving off-road vehicles on city streets.

    Public Safety says in 2020, the city started seeing large numbers of off-road vehicles like ATVs and dirt bikes driving recklessly — taking over roadways and intersections, driving on sidewalks and in many cases, going in the wrong direction.

    According to Public Safety, “flash mobs” or “ride-outs” have as many as 50 to 200 riders roaming Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods at any given time.

    Public Safety says just in the past week, police issued eight citations and towed two vehicles from a ride-out event. One citation came from a traffic stop where a dirt bike rider was driving the wrong way toward police on N. Beatty Street.

    Triblive quoted Pittsburgh police Commander Eric Holmes as saying, “We cannot address this problem alone and we are asking for the public’s help to put an end to these dangerous and disruptive ride-outs in the city.” Haha good luck with that, ya jag.

March 4

  • Pittsburgh City Council has decided to table its discussion of a “no-knock bill” for two weeks.

March 6

  • Filler received the following anonymous communique:

    “Last night I attacked several corporate store fronts as a modest contribution to the March 6 Day of Action, and as a means of grieving a lost loved one. I miss you, Duval.”
  • Filler received the following anonymous communique:

    “some friends went on a prole strole and smashed a few cameras, but one of them had an alarm attached to it that went off so be aware of that”

March 8

  • “Drop the charges” and pro-rioter graffiti photos begin circulating social media.
  • “RIP TENSION” & “RIP Duval” graffiti photos begin circulating social media.
  • Filler received the following anonymous report:

    “mounted police on butler st and reported in troy hill, today is the first day of chauvins trial.”

March 10

  • After Chase Bank announced that they would be giving $200 gift cards to anyone who opens a new account, hundreds of Pittsburgh-area residents had their identities stolen and used to open fake Chase Bank accounts in their name. The bank expropriation scam does not appear to have used the stolen identities for any other purpose. Despite federal assistance, a multi-department police task force has yet to announce any leads on the case.

March 11

  • Filler received a communique from “team fuck shit” claiming responsibility for stealing 17 Peduto campaign signs.
  • Pittsburgh Fash Watch reports on the removal of transphobic stickers between 40th and 44th on Davison St.
  • Capitalist media reports that Pittsburgh Public Schools will be taking high school students to court for truancy, despite repeated attempts on behalf of the students and their families to demonstrate that they were unable to use Zoom or their home internet connection to attend online classes.

March 12

  • Filler received the following anonymous communique:

    “Anarchists in Pittsburgh dropped a banner at a pedestrian bridge in solidarity with those fighting back against Line 3 and pipelines everywhere. Living in Pittsburgh makes us acutely aware of the risks of industrial pollution.”

March 13

  • Capitalist media reports that the Pennsylvania State Police will be canceling their Spring and Summer Youth Cadet Training Camps due to concerns over the COVID pandemic. At “Camp Cadet,” kids aged 12-15 are forced to dress in uniform, march in formation, and attend police seminars on build a positive relationship with law enforcement personnel in exchange for free food.

March 15

  • A noise demonstration is held in solidarity with community members incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail.
  • Filler received a communique from Ohio Valley Environmental Resistance:

    “OVER & several affinity groups held a noise demo outside the home of Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald to protest his support of the petrochemical industry.”

March 16

  • New issue of Occupy Pittsburgh News dropped. It continues the paper’s coverage of how the Pittsburgh city government, local universities, private developers, and big tech are trying to bulldoze through two neighborhoods and Schenley Park to build a road used exclusively by “autonomous” vehicle shuttles for students & techies. The project also appears to deliberately worsen flood patterns in the hoods.

March 17

  • Pitt, CMU & tech giants launch ‘collaboratory’ that will “study how extremism is generated, how it shapes polarizing views, how it provokes illegal acts” & “develop tools that provide effective intervention for law enforcement” & “combating radicalism.” They also intend to develop methods of tracking radical networks that use encrypted networks. You know, to stop hate. Yeah. Thats why.

March 19

  • Two plainclothes, unidentified police followed, jumped and arrested two comrades after the climate strike. They did not identify themselves, and at least one comrade will be facing felony charges.
  • Filler received a report indicating that fascist graffiti in Oakland had been covered.
  • Capitalist media reports “Pennsylvania state House passes bill upping penalty for spitting on police officers.”

Under existing law, spitting on a police officer is treated the same as spitting on any other person. The perpetrator could be charged with disorderly conduct.

That currently could be charged as either a summary offense or a third degree misdemeanor, with penalties ranging from a fine of $25 to $1,000, and up to a year in prison.

Schmitt’s bill would bump up spitting, or knowingly throwing any other bodily substances, such as blood, urine, or feces, on a police officer to a first degree misdemeanor. That’s punishable with two-and-a-half to five years in prison, and a fine of up to $10,000. As written, the bill elevated the misdemeanor to a felony if the spitter had a communicable disease. The bill also specifically notes Hepatitis-B and HIV-AIDS.

This matches the existing law for “bodily fluid assault,” Schmitt said.

Right now, the only specific statute covering spitting applies if the offender is a prisoner. In that case, spitting on anyone else, including a police officer or corrections officer, is automatically a felony if the prisoner is “infected by a communicable disease, including, but not limited to, [HIV] or hepatitis B.”

March 20

  • Despite the COVID shutdown, federal investigation, and brief autonomous blockades like the one in January, Shell announced that the cracker plant in Beaver County will be fully operational in 2022. Unless more delays occur, of course.
  • Google announces plans to expand its little company-town in Walnut Capital’s Bakery Square.
  • The snitch-seeker squad & surveillance task force are re-mobilized. Civil Affairs and DAAT can eat shit.
  • Filler received the following anonymous submission:

    “Looks like someone capped the duo lingo mural. Maybe they’ll leave better art work up or pay someone in the community to paint it next time. Fuck tech giants.”

March 22

  • Pennsylvania State Police and the bomb squad were called to a Walmart in Westmoreland County for a suspicious package.

Find each other.

You can send your report-backs, zine submissions, critiques, graffiti/action photos, demo tapes, hate mail, & memes to…

Filler_PGH@protonmail.com

We’ll try to publish your report // promote your content // reply in a reasonable amount of punk time.

Send reports in email form, as an attachment, or better yet, on an easy to use (and free) Riseup Pad or CryptPad.

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A Brief Look at Pittsburgh’s New Protest Guidelines — TORCHLIGHT

Thursday, August 23rd, 2018

Originally published by Torchlight

The latest guidelines for unpermitted street protests issued by the Pittsburgh cops have generated a lot of outrage, but not much in the way of tactical or strategic analysis. We gave the document a quick glance to see what it might reveal about the cops’ plans and thoughts. In no particular order:

  • It’s tempting to laugh at the list of intersections and colored coded zones for revealing exactly where protesters should set up blockades for maximum disruption, but let’s face it, that wasn’t exactly classified information anyway. More interesting are the locations that were left out. Butler Street in Lawrenceville? Allegheny Center in Northside? Both are perfectly acceptable protest spots under the new rules, and both are virtual parking lots during rush hour even under ideal conditions. Pittsburgh’s, um, idiosyncratic street layout offers many more such choke points. Maybe it’s time to branch out geographically, if only for the hilarity of watching a police liaison wave a copy of the guidelines under the nose of a frustrated cop, screaming “We’re nowhere NEAR the red zone, what are you even complaining about???”

    They do give themselves some wiggle room toward the end with “Officers may use their discretion to make other roadways or intersections off limits to protests if judged necessary to ensure public safety”, but still…
  • This sentence is highly interesting: “Whenever possible, warnings should be given with a bullhorn, a squad car PA system or LRAD.” For those unfamiliar with the term, “LRAD” stands for Long Range Acoustic Device, a crowd dispersal weapon that emits a piercing noise loud enough to cause pain and hearing damage. It can also be used as a loudspeaker. The LRAD made its US debut right here in Pittsburgh during the 2009 G20 protests, where it permanently damaged the hearing of a woman who wasn’t even protesting. She sued the city, won a $72,000 settlement, and Pittsburgh’s LRAD has been in mothballs ever since. The guidelines only mention the LRAD’s loudspeaker function, but the fact that the cops are bringing it up at all is intriguing. However, given their past experience with the thing, and their general hands-off approach to the protests for Antwon Rose II, they’re probably bluffing. Even if they bring it out, chances are they won’t use the crowd dispersal function. Protesters are advised to pack earplugs just in case though.
  • The guidelines say absolutely nothing about requiring permits. This should be a standing rebuke to all the liberal nonprofit organizations in Pittsburgh that refuse to set foot in the street without getting permission from the people they’re protesting against.
  • Zooming out a little, the guidelines as a whole make it obvious that the cops are gaining confidence and worrying less about Pittsburgh going up like Ferguson. At the most recent march for Antwon they shadowed the march with the usual phalanx of city cops, but they didn’t feel it necessary to call in the state police, and no more than one undercover was spotted in the crowd. Even after marchers got right up in the face of Chief Schubert and Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich, no further reinforcements were called in. If the cops feel like they’re getting away with the current set of restrictions, more will surely follow.

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Some Notes on the Demonstrations for Antwon Rose — TORCHLIGHT PGH

Friday, July 13th, 2018

Received on July 12, 2018.
Originally published by Torchlight PGH — Anarchist News from Pittsburgh

As everyone now knows, on June 19th East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld murdered Antwon Rose Jr. by shooting him in the back three times as he ran from a traffic stop. When a video of the shooting went viral on social media, Pittsburgh exploded in protest. Explosions are relative of course, and the riots, looting, and torched convenience stores that characterized analogous uprisings in Ferguson and Baltimore have here translated to peaceful marches to block traffic. Nonetheless the current situation is a major departure from the usual activist routine that anarchists in Pittsburgh suffer through. We offer the following points for consideration.

1. The cops are taking this very seriously.

Pittsburgh police chief Scott Schubert has showed up in person at at least two of the protests, and all of the actions inside Pittsburgh city limits have featured a gaggle of commanders and assistant chiefs, none of whom ordinarily work nights. Pittsburgh has also called in the PA state police on short notice for several protests. The cops call that “mutual aid”, but that doesn’t stop them from charging for it. Pittsburgh will be getting a bill from the state. The Pittsburgh cops have even switched to 12 hour shifts for the duration of the crisis, in order to monitor the protests and still carry out day-to-day oppression. This policy is reminiscent of the All Hands on Deck weekends in DC that the police union there fought against so bitterly, except it’s not just a weekend, it could last for weeks.

Yet despite the massive amounts of cops and money being thrown at the protests, arrests have been sparse. As of this writing there have been only five that we’ve heard of, not counting hecklers. This is not for lack of opportunity. The cops are obviously bending over backwards to avoid provoking an already furious community further and sparking a Ferguson style riot. One recent action provides a telling example.

On the evening of June 27th, a smallish crew held a noise demo at Rosfeld’s house near Penn Hills. The action was pre-planned, unannounced, short, and came off without a hitch except for one thing. Somehow word got out, and a bunch of latecomers rushed to Penn Hills, assuming reinforcements were needed. They got there after the first crew had gone home and taken most of the legal support with them. The “reinforcements” therefore arrived to a hornets nest of pissed off cops protecting one of their own, most of them from random boroughs in eastern Allegheny County that never see protests. It was the kind of situation guaranteed to send cold shivers up the spine of any experienced street demonstrator, but the bloodbath never happened. No arrests, no injuries. Even in Penn Frickin Hills the cops have now been inoculated against antagonizing protesters.

[Filler would like to add a side note here: the second home demonstration was materially supported in a variety of ways by several of the previous demo’s crews, and the action contributed to many great new relationships. This should not be overlooked.]

Anyone who thinks this forbearance indicates any good will on the part of the police should keep in mind the second prong of their strategy – shadowing every demonstration for Antwon with ridiculously obvious undercover cops (three at the morning march on the 27th had the flashers on in their unmarked cop car). Torchlight sources have spotted them at every march they have attended. People who have confronted them report that they seem very uncomfortable about being outed, so the obviousness is probably not an intimidation tactic, they’re just incompetent. They’ve still been taking tons of pictures however, presumably with the aim of identifying all the new protesters who have emerged since Antwon’s killing. This too is unprecedented here.

Undercover

2. Stephen Zappala’s job is probably safe.

“THREE SHOTS IN THE BACK, HOW DO YOU JUSTIFY THAT!?” Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala worked harder than anyone else to come up with an answer to that question. After a week of valiant effort however, he finally threw in the towel and admitted that no, he couldn’t justify that. That hasn’t stopped self-appointed organizers from first announcing an electoral campaign to unseat Zappala, and then scrambling to recruit a Black former public defender named Turahn Jenkins to take him on in the Democratic primary next year. In their haste they skimped on their research, and missed Jenkins’ blatant homophobia. Presumably they’re going to give it another shot however. We have said this before, but the electoral approach makes a lot more sense as a strategy to remove protesters from the streets than a serious attempt to replace Zappala. Just for fun though, let’s take it at face value for a minute.

As calculated and political as Zappala’s decision to charge Rosfeld with criminal homicide was, it’ll probably be enough to mollify white liberal voters who just need to be reassured the system still works. By next year’s Democratic primaries only the angriest of liberals will still hold it against him. Right wing voters on the other hand, are going to be pissed. Pittsburgh’s Fraternal Order of Police are unlikely to be any more enthusiastic about those 12 hour shifts than their DC counterparts, and all cops will be angry with Zappala for what they consider his spineless pandering to protesters. Reactionary douchebags and closet racists, who make a sizable voting bloc, will surely feel similarly. This leaves Zappala more vulnerable from the right than the left. If he has to run to his left to fend off a progressive candidate he will leave himself even more open to a Republican opponent in the general election.

There are other scenarios, most of them also unfavorable. A centrist law and order Democrat could win the primary if Zappala splits the liberal vote with a progressive challenger. A charismatic progressive-sounding candidate could beat Zappala and then turn out to be no less malicious a prosecutor. Or of course Zappala could capitalize on the donor network and connections he has built up over two decades in office to cruise to victory.

The liberals are taking reformist Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner as a model for Allegheny County. APAB of course, but Krasner’s reforms are lifting some of the weight of the prison industrial complex from the necks of Philadelphia’s impoverished communities. Liberals still need to ask themselves which is more likely, that a newly elected DA would actually carry out a facsimile of Krasner’s program upon taking office, or instead mend fences with the police, mollify the hardliners in his office, and reassure conservative voters that he’s not crazy after all by continuing business as usual with a thicker layer of progressive rhetoric.

The one ray of hope is that there just might be a progressive rebellion emerging in the Democratic Party. It’s not impossible that after another year of Trump Allegheny County voters will be fed up enough to throw the bums out, Zappala included. Turnout is lower in odd year elections, so it wouldn’t take that many voters to elect a Krasner 2.0 if one could be found. Nonetheless an election-based strategy would mean putting an awful lot of eggs in one basket with no guarantee of success and no consolation prize.

But of course that’s the point. Pittsburgh’s liberal establishment would like nothing better than to see militant resistance burn itself out in a failed election campaign and sink back into jaded exhaustion. A successful election campaign would suit that purpose nearly as well.

allegheny-da-run-jenkins

3. Brandi Fisher is really good at coopting militant struggles.

A t-shirt popular during the Penguins’ back-to-back Stanley Cup runs read simply “SIDNEY CROSBY IS REALLY GOOD AT HOCKEY”. By that measure Brandi Fisher of the Alliance for Police Accountability absolutely deserves a t-shirt of her own. Her performance since Antwon’s murder has been at least as scintillating as was Crosby’s, and she doesn’t even have Matt Murray backing her up. Put another way, Brandi is near-singlehandedly replicating the work of Al Sharpton and the army of Black clergy that descended on Ferguson to pacify the uprising over Michael Brown’s murder. Pittsburgh isn’t St. Louis of course, but that’s still some impressive shit.

Brandi’s sheer versatility is amazing. Whether taking potential rivals under her wing, canceling their demonstrations unilaterally, or segueing seamlessly from one to the other, she doesn’t miss a beat. Freezing [primarily] white anarchist groups out of protest organizing, corralling angry street marches by strategic use of a bullhorn, coordinating with her friends among the police, lining white liberal groups up behind the APA banner – all part of Brandi’s extensive repertoire. It’s not just the highlight reel moves either. Brandi also displays the attention to detail that is the hallmark of the true superstar. Take the name of her group. By calling it an “alliance” she conveys the impression of being a part of a diverse group of organizations, all focused on the same goal. APA is nothing of the sort of course, it’s just Brandi and a few of her cronies. She gets away with this trick because she was clever enough not to call it a coalition.

Between the three of them, Brandi, Zappala, and the cops have had an effect. The huge pre-announced highway-blocking marches that characterized the first week of the uprising have given way to smaller and more sporadic actions organized mostly in secret. These types of actions aren’t as disruptive, but they’re harder to control. Brandi’s influence is weaker in the suburbs than within Pittsburgh, and a hard core of pissed off Black women is emerging who don’t take her every word as gospel. Medics and legal observers have been a small but consistent presence at nearly every action so far, as have white anarchists, despite Brandi’s attempts to exclude all three. It’s a little early to tell, but there are signs of something exciting coalescing that could last well beyond the current upheaval.

Better late than never. It shouldn’t have required a tragedy for Pittsburgh anarchists to start making connections with those at the sharp end of police oppression, but now that we have an opening we should take it. It’s not going to last forever. We have a natural affinity with the ones who refuse to be intimidated by riot cops, pacified by liberals, or lulled by reforms. The time to start talking to them is now.

***

jfa2

Related counter-information:

*the image below should read: East Pittsburgh police officer…

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Rise Up for Antwon: Report-Backs from Pittsburgh

Saturday, July 7th, 2018

The following reports cover several of the latest autonomous actions taken during the ongoing mobilization demanding justice for Antwon Rose Jr, including two demonstrations held outside the homes of killer cop michael rosfeld and judge/collaborator jeffrey manning.

All reports were submitted anonymously to Filler PGH or It’s Going Down.

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Rally & Vigil Held Outside East Pittsburgh Officer michael rosfeld’s Home

June 27

Pittsburgh residents and organizers held a vigil and rally to remember Antwon Rose Jr. at the home of killer cop michael rosfeld.

Rosfeld had been released on a $250,000 unsecured bond (on a criminal homicide charge…) just a few hours prior, and so some folks coordinating as part of the steel city autonomous movement (SCAM) thought we’d welcome him home; the charging of michael rosfeld is a small victory, but justice demands that we take direct action towards the abolition of white supremacy.

We are outraged, saddened, yet unsurprised by the actions of the police. State-sponsored violence is how those in power uphold white supremacist capitalism. With this in mind, we also called attention to the history of local police brutality, commemorating Mark Daniels and Bruce Kelley Jr. among others recently murdered by the state. Successfully convicting rosfeld of homicide does not prove he is only ‘one bad apple’; there is a larger culture of police and city authorities who are complicit in state violence, and that must be accounted for.

It’s important that the community of Verona — the officer’s current neighborhood of residence — be made aware that they are living in close proximity to someone who did not hesitate to kill an unarmed black teen by shooting him three times: in the back, arm, and face.

During the demonstration, some neighbors shouted in support, while others made sure demonstrators did not go on their private property. There is a community divide, but there is necessity in confronting that divide. The demonstration served as a way to show where neighbors stand, and to elicit responses from residents. Police are public officials, and rosfeld’s address was publicly available. Rallying outside the jagoff’s residence is the necessary social consequence to murders committed by police.

After the action, dozens of folks decided to go back with more numbers and held their ground until around 11pm / midnight. 

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As an excerpt from a flyer that was distributed to neighbors reads,

[…] systemic racism is woven deeply into the greater Pittsburgh area. Because one of the most deeply segregated urban regions in the country is patrolled by cops that belong to a powerful right-wing union—the FOP. Because in this reality, the police are only harbingers of violence to communities of color; killing or incarcerating, creating trauma, breaking apart families. It was only 4 months ago that the Pittsburgh Police shot and killed Mark Daniels here, an unarmed 39-year-old grandfather, another black man killed by another white cop. This is the same policing system that, in 2010, jumped 18 year old Jordan Miles, beating him beyond recognition while he was walking to his grandmother’s house, drinking a soda the cops claimed was a gun.

To close, here is a quote from a report-back that was released after another autonomous home demonstration in Pittsburgh—this one from last October, taking place outside the home of the brutally violent officer andrew jacobs.

Cops aren’t afraid of their fellow cops, of their bosses, of courts or prosecutors or legislatures. But they’re afraid of us. A little research and some word of mouth is all it takes for us to bring the fight from our neighborhoods to theirs.

Organizing against police violence challenges the separation of people from political power, the social logic of the badge made material by the physical force of the baton. Power insulates individuals from the consequences of their actions. This power must be seized through collective action and abolished, disorienting the powerful by rejecting the justification for their every misdeed.

We have a message for every cop, every ICE agent, every judge, every politician—for all the agents of white supremacy who continue to separate families through “legal” violence:

You have names and numbers, just like us. Just like us, you have homes that can be surveilled, neighbors that can be turned against you, communities that will reject you if the alternative becomes too costly. Just like us, your actions have consequences.

Activists accept targeted retaliation as a basic fact of their work. It’s time the police reckon with something similar.

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“I’m very comfortable with what I did. If either side doesn’t like it they know what to do.”
– Judge Jeffrey Manning.

The judge got one thing right: we know what to do.

(This quote is often erroneously attributed to rosfeld when in fact it was another white supremacist collaborator, the judge).

3

Pittsburgh House Demo
&
Suburban Intersection Shut Down for Antwon

July 4th

Demonstrations continue in Pittsburgh following the murder of seventeen year old Antwon Rose Jr., and as patriots in Judge Jeffrey Manning’s quiet suburban neighborhood were celebrating another year on stolen land, the peace was disturbed as rows of angry people chanted enroute to the judge’s house. Judge Jeffrey Manning of 535 Kingsberry Circle Mt. Lebanon PA, gave killer cop Michael Rosfeld a $250,000 unsecured bond on a criminal homicide charge. Never before in the state of PA has anyone charged with homicide been released on these terms, and released he was on the dime of the FOP the fucking day of his arrest.

This while seventeen year old Zaijuan Hester, who was charged with criminal attempted homicide, and was allegedly running from the traffic stop with Antwon, sits in jail without bond. We know the judges are not and will never be our allies, so of course shit is going down this way, but a little public shaming and intimidation to highlight just how much of a piece of shit Manning is is both empowering to those putting his shit on blast, and informative to the community he lurks in.

Everyone met up outside dude’s cul de sac in the grass listening to Jimmy Wopo and just kicking it, sharing water and perspectives about why they were there. This group was a lot smaller than the bigger street marches – about 35 people –  and was made up of Antwon’s community members, medics, legal observers, anarchists and antifascists, and black liberation activists. The mood was pretty posi with undertones of grief and anger about the situation, but in general people were feeling empowered and ready to storm this ding dong’s neighborhood. Folks silently marched single file in lines of two, some masked, some not; everyone with fists raised.

The chanting didn’t begin until the group arrived at Manning’s manor, where people began to shout, “What was his name? Antwon Rose Jr! How old was he? 17! Who did this? The police did this!” Speakers talked about the murder and the judge’s role in it all, songs were sung, and then the group reformed the two lines and marched through the neighborhood saying, “Three shots in the back, how you justify that?”

The pigs showed up late to the party and everyone was pretty much on to the next thing by the time several squad cars arrived. Everyone got out just fine. The second part of the day’s actions was to shut down the intersection at Connor and Gilkeson Road, a pretty big intersection for the amount of people who came out. This was right in front of a mall and a main route to various suburbanite July 4th parties, so that was tight. The small group shut shit down successfully with the help of a down ass semi driver who saw what was up and parked his rig in front of the exit route many cars were attempting to take. The cops were frazzled, a lot of fancy cars got fucked up hopping the median, and the intersection was held successfully for a good chunk of time in the 95 degree heat and direct sun.

One woman tried to drive her car through a group of about five, but that didn’t work out and she mostly got made fun of for like a half hour. Cops tried to pull at the heart strings of protesters by pleading for the ‘scared children’ in the blocked cars, met with the response, “Antwon was a scared kid.”

When the last car was turned around and bottomed out, the crew marched down the street with fists in the air singing, “Antwon Rose was a freedom fighter and he taught us how to fight; we gonna fight all day and night until we get it right. Which side are you on, my people? Which side are you on?” The semi driver honked and threw up a fist before trucking off.

Sixteen days ago, people came out into the streets in mass to protest Antwon’s murder, many for the first time. The first intersection shut down in front of the EPGH Police Dept was chaotic, powerful, sad, and confusing. On that first night, a cop tried to drive his cruiser through the crowd, and some intense in-fighting errupted when some folks decided to put their bodies in the way of the vehicle. There were arguments about weather white people should even be there, who the fuck are these people in masks, etc. Sixteen days later, at this demonstration, crews of all identities and backgrounds were tight and working together with understanding and respect for each other. Way more people were masked up, kids were helping each other figure out the best ways to tie t-shirts over their faces, road flares were embraced by everyone there, and everyone was reminding each other to use Signal. More crews are being formed, and they’re not planning on going away any time soon. The July 4 demo was def one of the smaller groups in the scope of things, but that tightness in the small number was super powerful. Friendships and comradery are being built in a way that will strengthen as we continue on in this fight, and forward.

All Cops Are Michael Rosfeld

Fuck All Judges Forever

The slideshow below is a compilation of graffiti actions that were claimed in solidarity with the movement, including one from comrades in Philly.

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Related counter-information:

*the image below should read: East Pittsburgh police officer…

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yup

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