The following report-backs were sent in to Filler throughout September, 2021.

Each report is autonomous, meaning that it only represents the ideas and actions of the author(s). This rundown is comprised entirely of submissions and is not meant to be a definitive list of recent autonomous action. All reports were sent in anonymously. Dates represent the day that the report was received, and not necessarily the day the action took place.

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09.02.21

“On Saturday August 28th, Pittsburgh protesters occupied the area outside the home of Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald in Squirrel Hill for most of the day to call for his resignation.”

Read the full report HERE.

09.11.21

“We wanted to test out a few methods for slashing tires, and so we went on a walk. We dressed in grey bloc, avoided main streets, left our phones behind, and enjoyed a meandering route. We targeted a CMU vehicle, a gentrifying developer’s vehicle, a corporate vehicle, and a good number of those stupid scooter things cause theyre not funny and it pisses us off that their cutting public transit in favor of “green” individualized data mining operations (btw the alarms went off on all of the scooters)

Theres two methods we liked best. First, the quick intuitive method which is just taking a knife and quickly slashing- grip so your thumb is over the hilt, thrust into the side of the tire not the top, then quickly drag in the direction of the sharp end of the blade. Keep your head away cause that burst of air is loud af. Second, the quiet and discreet method which is to puncture with an awl. Takes a while to deflate if you do it right, which means the release of air is much quieter. Punctured tires can be patched though so keep that in mind.

We know this shit isn’t going to make much of a difference politically or whatever. But we learned a lot about how we operate together, practiced a bit of sabotage, had some fun and got a workout in. Maybe someday we’ll do this again as part of a long term strategy or whatever but for now it sure as hell beats netflix.

– some dumb kids”

09.13.21

“An autonomous delivery robot got got. It was one of those stupid looking ones that makes faces and has some dude with an ipad following it from a block away, he was too far away to do shit about it lol.”

09.20.21

“Your chairman sucks and so does your wheatpasting. Fuck authoritarians.”

[An editorial note for context: Flyers promoting a demonstration commemorating the life of Shining Path’s leader, Chairman Gonzalo, were torn down around Pittsburgh. The legacy of Shining Path is homophobia, indiscriminate violence, punitive “justice,” simultaneous prohibition & drug trafficking. Filler agrees with the author of this brief report: the legacy of Shining Path has no home in Pittsburgh. We can still empathize, because no one should die in prison. That being said, anarchists should translate this sentiment into abolitionist action, and not into a fencewalker’s “Left unity” that would have us ignore the real political differences that we have with authoritarian communists.]

09.23.21

“Early in the morning of September 23rd, an autonomous activist dropped a banner off of the overpass along Tripoli Street. The banner was made to express solidarity with the climate strike happening on Friday, September 24th. Kill the cop/boss/principal in your head and stop participating in capitalist endevours for a day. Stop being complicit in the destruction of our only home; join the strike!“

09.30.21

“Some time early one morning, an autonomous person or group of persons dropped a banner on the fence of the ball field along Liberty Avenue. The banner reads “Fitzgerald Must Resign.” To the sides of the text are two red circles with a line that crosses out the words “Petro” and “Jail.” 

The banner was hung as a sign of solidarity and encouragement for the recent collaborative efforts between local prison abolitionists and anti-petro activists to hold Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald accountable. Fitzgerald has been negligent in his responsibilites to the Allegheny County Jail (ACJ), where three people recently died and torture continues to take place. Fitzgerald has not been attending Jail Oversight Board meetings, as his position requires of him. He has the power to stop many of the heinous acts happening at ACJ. Yet, he does not.

Fitzgerald has also actively encouraged environmental violence to be inflicted upon the residents of the Southwestern PA region by championing fracking and petrochemical facilities. Both industrial practices infringe upon our basic human rights to clean water and living spaces that are free from toxic substances. Fitzgerald’s greed-fueled deeds can also be extrapolated to the entire human population as fracking and petrochemical facilities substaintially contribute to the climate crisis.

For these reasons, Pittsburgh activists are calling for the resignation of Rich Fitzgerald. His harmful (in)actions have proven him to be unfit for the position of power he holds and unfit to hold any future positions of power.“

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Editorial side note / Filler Distro updates: Lately the distro crew has been busy with tabling and printing, so we haven’t been as active with Filler‘s web presence. As a result we haven’t been publishing all of the reports that we’ve received, but this rundown should catch us up. If you sent in a submission and are still waiting for us to publish it or reply, don’t hesitate to reach out and be like “yo what the hell is taking you posers so long” because chances are we either missed it or forgot. Thanks for your patience.

We’ve been distributing regional autonomous/anarchist news, ideas, music, zines and counter-information since 2012, but Filler Distro still isn’t an “organization.” So please keep in mind that we’re just an informal affinity group / network that does Filler (printing/formating zines, tabling, filling mail-orders, reading and study groups, publishing reports on the website, tweeting dumb shit, etc.) whenever we get around to it. Fuck work, fuck professionalism.

Also, we are aware of the situation with protonmail. For the time being, we will be continuing to use protonmail as our primary public email address. Filler does not retain any records or metadata of the original submissions that we receive via protonmail, except in cases of correspondence with zine authors. That being said, we encourage all potential contributors to consider their individual threat models before submitting their content to us.

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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 get back to you 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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Youth Liberation Now is back with another banger. Seriously, check this issue out, then sneak into an office and print it at school or at work. Let’s get this zine out there. Don’t have access to a printer? Send us an email and we’ll work something out – fillerpgh@protonmail.com.

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PDF – FOR ONLINE READING

PDF – ZINE FORMAT FOR PRINTING

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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 get back to you 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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Filler, July 2021

Click here for a PDF imposed for zine printing.

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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 get back to you 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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Anonymous submission received on 06.29.21

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PITTSBURGH: Plastic trash left at Rich Fitzgerald’s home to protest petrochemical buildout, communique encourages everyone to do the same.

In the middle of the night on Tuesday, June 29th, four trash bags filled with plastic waste were left on the steps of Rich Fitzgerald’s house. The trash bags bore the message “STOP SUPPORTING THE PETRO INDUSTRY.” One can assume that the purpose of the display was to showcase what the Shell Ethane Cracker Plant and any other subsequent petrochemical infrastructure will likely produce: single-use plastic junk. 

There was a communique attached to the display. It read: 

“Residents of SWPA, you are hereby encouraged to drop off any plastic trash you find at 1314 Denniston St, to send the trash to Fitzgerald’s office in downtown Pittsburgh, or to greet him with gifts of plastic trash in person. Instead of letting the plastic end up in our food, water, and bodies, please give it to someone who loves it so much that he wants to see 1.6 billion tons more of it on our planet!”

The writer of this report can only agree with the unknown creator of this display: politicians should take responsibility for the things they advocate for.

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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 get back to you 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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This zine was anonymously submitted to Filler for distribution in 2020.

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PDF for online reading

PDF Zine, imposed printing format (short-edge binding)

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An excerpt from the introduction:

Smartphones are really fucking snitchy and nasty. From the exploitation needed to extract lithium, to the suicide-net factories where the phones are assembled, to the social othering of those who cannot afford them, to the anxious phantom-buzz in your pocket that teaches us to dread solitude… the world of the smartphone is tragically just beginning to gain momentum.

As crises erupt globally, nation-states will be racing to deploy the latest digital carceral infrastructure needed to predict and preemptively respond to “crime”, manage populations, and regulate the movements of individuals. Meanwhile, many of us often find ourselves reliant on our phones to keep close with those far away, or to find the gigs that we need to work to gather resources – for a lot of us, phones are unfortunately a near- essential tool we rely on to move through the world.

I have no interest in arguing for some pure withdrawal from communications technology. Instead, I want to explore the ways that phone apps are produced in order to map out the exploits that can be found within them.

While we look for ways to mitigate the way technology mediates our lives, we also ought to find ways to hijack tech to get free shit and carry out new experiments in autonomy.

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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 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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Originally published on 07.24.20 by TORCHLIGHT – Anarchist News from Pittsburgh

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A local anarchist who has recently been involved in legal support sent us [Torchlight] this compendium of repressive activities by law enforcement. It has been edited for spelling and grammar, and supporting links added, but is otherwise unchanged.

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Statement from “some anti-fascists based in the East End.”
Submission received on 06.14.20

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Timeline of Events

(Confirmed) Around 6pm on Saturday, June 13th,  approximately 15 fascists (some affiliated with the Nazi skinhead gang, Keystone United) attempted to picket The Big Idea Cooperative Bookstore & Café in Bloomfield. Within minutes, dozens of East Enders turned out to oppose the Neo-Nazis. 

(Confirmed) 
Around 6:30, the fascists split into smaller groups and put up propaganda flyers around the neighborhood. Local anti-fascists monitored the situation, following the fascists from a distance and filming their activities. 

(Unconfirmed) Around 6:45, one fascist assaulted someone who was documenting his activities outside of Silky’s Bar on Liberty Ave. 

(Confirmed) Around 6:45, police arrived at the scene outside of Silky’s Bar. The police and several others separated the fascists from the locals, and two officers briefly spoke to two of the Neo-Nazis. A few minutes later the police and the Nazis shook hands and went their separate ways.

(Confirmed) A few blocks up the street, another splinter group of four Nazis began taunting ~10 local anti-fascists and other residents outside of Lou’s Corner Bar. As the video shows, the Nazis went to their parked vehicle. One of them pulled a handgun out of the backseat, chambered a round, and threatened the people filming him. The Neo-Nazis drove off shortly after. 

(Unconfirmed) The gunman may be Keystone United member Josh Martin. 

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Pittsburgh is no stranger to the fascist movement’s violence. The tragic attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in October 2018 is still fresh in our memories. In 2009, a white supremacist named Richard Poplawski made the front page for murdering three Pittsburgh police officers (it is worth noting that the police killings of Paul Palmer and Lamar W. Smith earlier that same year went largely ignored by the media).

In July 2018, the last time Keystone United gathered in Pittsburgh, six members of the gang were arrested for their racially-motivated attack on Paul Morris in Avalon.

Keystone United is not welcome in Pittsburgh; East Enders proved that on Saturday. Fascist groups like KU have become emboldened by growing national unrest. Pittsburgh antifa has returned that boldness in kind. Even though many local anti-racists were attending Black Lives Matter protests in other parts of the city, Pittsburghers stayed vigilant and communicative. Many different anti-racist organizations and individuals came together and helped mobilize the neighborhood to successfully disrupt the Neo-Nazi picket.

We will continue to confront them by any means necessary, and our neighborhoods will continue to turn the fuck out. Hate has no home here.

Keystone United may have retreated for now, but it is likely that they are staying with their local contacts and will remain in town for the weekend. So please, please be safe yinz. Roll with a crew if you plan on hitting the bars. 

If you think you’ve spotted a group of Nazis and want to alert the community, remember the acronym SALUTE.

Make sure you come prepared if you intend to document their activities or to intervene in racist / sexist / homophobic / transphobic attacks. Always protect your identity: bring a mask, cover your tattoos, bring a change of clothes. When leaving an encounter, remember to take three turns to check for tail; you don’t want them to know where you live or what kind of car you drive. If you cannot risk a confrontation, then perhaps you can assist with coordinating communications, transportation, provide safe houses, child/pet care, alert your neighbors… anti-fascism is a community effort!

Remember: Antifa is not an organization you can join. Anti-fascism is a position of community self-defense; it is something that you do. Let’s take action to protect ourselves, our friends, and our neighbors.

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– some anti-fascists based in the East End

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Originally published on 05.13.20 by TORCHLIGHT,
an anarchist news website based here in Pittsburgh
Photos stolen from City Paper

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Yesterday [05.12.20] a caravan of almost 30 vehicles circulated downtown, demanding that Allegheny County Jail release prisoners, especially Black mothers, in light of the ongoing Covid19 pandemic. The action was organized by Dignity Act of PA. Protesters hung signs from their cars and honked as they circled the City-County Building beside the county courthouse. After about a half hour there, the caravan headed over to Allegheny County Jail, where they stopped in front until the cops ordered them to move and started handing out tickets. Organizers then held a press conference.

Corporate media coverage was typically sparse, again, in comparison to the flood of coverage given to the right-wing astroturfed “reopen” protests last month. Only City Paper and KDKA Radio reported on the caravan.

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Inside the jail, little has changed. The jail’s oversight board recently voted not to do universal testing for coronavirus. Last week Chelsa Wagner, the county controller, wrote a blistering op-ed in the Post-Gazette calling out county executive Rich Fitzgerald for lack of transparency, and questioning the testing priorities of UPMC and county officials.

Currently, jail testing data indicates 28 out of 59 prisoners have tested positive, a 45% rate. This is actually lower than the 56% from a couple of weeks ago, raising the suspicion that the jail is manipulating the numbers downward somehow. Given the crowded conditions and the number of symptomatic individuals reported to be inside, it is very unlikely that the true positive rate is going down.

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Anonymous submission received on 05.02.20

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On May Day, an autonomous group of individuals carried out a series of banner drops in Pittsburgh in support of the 5 global demands.

In this time of crisis, it is more important than ever that we prioritize the safety and well-being of our neighbors and communities over the profits of the owning class or a quick return to “normal”. Too many of us in Pittsburgh believe that the course of the response to this pandemic is out of our control, that we can only make the best of plans and actions handed down from on high by politicians, landlords, and business owners. It does not have to be that way. With these banners, we are spreading awareness of the possibilities of collective action, hoping to foster the knowledge that we as people can make the decisions that will keep us and our people safe, housed, and secure despite the changes that the virus has made necessary. These problems are systemic, and our demands are inextricable from one another. We cannot have homes for all if we do not cancel rent, debt, and mortgage, or if prisoners are released without healthcare and homes to go to. Our power lies in our autonomy and our solidarity—together, we can all protect one another.

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Demand 1: Free Healthcare

Free testing, treatment, and medical care for all. We must be able to seek access to preventative and emergency care without fear of debt or incarceration. With health insurance tied to employment, millions of newly unemployed people have lost access to medical care in the midst of a pandemic.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, over 2 million Pennsylvania residents had unpaid medical debt. As the health crisis continues, we must expect this number to increase dramatically. We need to radically expand access to COVID-19 testing and make healthcare available for all people, regardless of class, employment status, and ability to pay. In response to the crisis, the government has funded a $2 trillion dollar stimulus package that functions primarily to bail out billionaires. This is proof that we have the capability to take drastic measures to protect vulnerable populations during this crisis; what we lack is the political will. For this reason, the masses of unemployed and working people must come together to demand a radical new approach to health care access in this country. We need to stop protecting corporations and the exploiting classes. We need testing, treatment, and healthcare for all, and we need it now! 

Demand 2: Workers Decide

Work can only continue on our terms. Guaranteed benefits and expanded insurance for the unemployed. Paid sick leave, hazard pay and worker protections for essential sectors. Any essential service must adopt strict protective measures for workers and their families.

We call on Governor Wolf and the state legislature to defend workers’ right to decide how and when they go back to work, once widespread testing, tracing and necessary protective measures have been made free, accessible, and available. Workers across the globe are communicating and organizing together to resist premature reopening of businesses and worksites. Workers in “essential” industries such as healthcare, sanitation, food production, and retail are coming together to demand appropriate protections and compensation. If workers aren’t given paid sick leave, hazard pay, worker protection, and personal and medical protection, there will be hell to pay when we strike. We demand that employers stop asking workers to risk their lives for their employer’s accumulation of wealth!

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Demand 3: No Paying, No Debt

Cancel rent and mortgage payments, utility and bill collections and all debt payments for the duration of the pandemic. No work means no pay. The unemployed cannot be forced to choose between survival and settling their debts.

Prior to COVID-19, two in five Americans and three in five renters across the United States would have been unable to afford a $400 dollar emergency expense. According to reports, about 59% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, with 44% struggling to make payments on their bills and credit card debts. In Pittsburgh, 22% of residents live at or below the poverty line, significantly higher than that of the state average of 13.3%. Comparisons of today’s economy to the 2008 financial crisis indicate that we are heading for a collapse that could eclipse the recession of twelve years ago. We cannot repeat our past mistakes. The $2 trillion stimulus package that was passed in late March must work for the people, not Wall Street. 

Even with the $1200 stimulus check, many who are out of work will not be able to make their payments. If we are unable to work, we are unable to pay. The unemployed cannot be expected to bear the burden of debt during the pandemic.

We call upon the Pennsylvania state legislature to sign on to bill HR 6515 introduced by Representatives Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee of Allegheny County, Representative Elizabeth Fiedler of Philadelphia and Representative Danielle Friel Otten of Chester County, to suspend rent and mortgage payments during the COVID crisis. Moreover, we challenge landlords and banks to open their ‘rainy day funds’ to their lenders, and tenants and individuals to organize with their neighbors through the Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters.

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Demand 4: Free Prisoners

Release high-risk inmates and those held on bail from jails and prisons immediately. Release all immigrants and asylum seekers held in detention centers. Provide care for those infected and adequate minimum distance requirements for remaining inmates. Prison cannot mean a guaranteed death sentence.

Formerly incarcerated folks have reported to Jailbreak (a jail after-care support group) the poor conditions of those currently inside Allegheny County Jail. N95 masks given with the seals broken, 1 roll of toilet paper per week to be shared with a cell-mate, limited access to soap, medical care and testing, just to name a few. If the state is going to keep people in the jail, it is paramount that they treat all those behind their walls in a safe and humane manner. 

Dr. Debra L. Brogen, the newly appointed Director of the ACHD, must do more. Those inside must have proper access to basic hygiene and medical needs, including testing anyone that has even 1 symptom. If Dr. Brogen does not act, the jail will inevitably become a death camp. With how easily the virus transmits we know cases are rising daily. As of May Day 2020, there are 27 positive tests for those incarcerated—out of only 48 total tests. There are over 1,600 people currently locked up. We believe in the end of the industrial prison complex. Free Them All!

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Demand 5: Homes For All

Shelter the houseless. Halt eviction proceedings. Sheltering in place is the most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Open unoccupied homes and hotels to anyone who needs shelter. End the criminalization and sweeps of houseless encampments.

Housing is a human right, and collectively we have the capability to house everyone. Renters across the region are still facing the prospect of houslessness, eviction, and increases in their rent, while landlords sit idly by waiting for our rent checks. Moments of crisis such as this pandemic force us to make a choice: safety and security for the people, or profits for those who own the buildings we live in? 

Seventy percent of Americans are under lockdown orders. Although banks and homeowners have been offered forgiveness for late-payments and adjustments to mortgages, many of our most vulnerable are left without a safety net yet again. In a small sample of houseless individuals in Boston, 36% tested positive for COVID-19. Other cities have created housing programs that open empty hotels to houseless individuals. Pittsburgh must follow suit. We understand that these are temporary solutions in a long, systematic struggle against the powers of privilege, property, systemic racism, and capitalism, but even temporary solutions are worth our while during a crisis such as this.

If we cannot rely on those in power to protect us, we have to take matters into our own hands by organizing with our neighbors, negotiating with our landlords, and if necessary, taking part in a rent strike. We stand collectively in agreement with the  Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters’ (PURR) call to:

• Cancel rent
• Cancel mortgages
• Extend the eviction moratorium (currently expiring May 8)
• Provide protective equipment for all workers
• Guarantee shelter to the unhomed
• Guarantee paid sick leave
• Decarcerate the Allegheny County jail. It remains inhumane and a deadly health risk.

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We know that these 5 demands are not relevant only in the time of the Covid-19 coronavirus. Regardless of the course of the pandemic and the government’s response to it, these demands will continue to guide us towards a better world in which we can all thrive. These are difficult and scary times; there is no going back to the patterns of living and working we were familiar with before this global pandemic. Even scarier is the fact that this was inevitable—this moment of realization that the system we had before was not created for the welfare of all.

The needs that the 5 Demands address existed before the crisis, but have made unmistakably clear by the pandemic’s effect on a system with no extra space for those at the margins. Although COVID-19 is the immediate cause of much suffering and our response to it is our priority, the underlying problem is not the virus, but the stranglehold that capitalism holds on our lives and our ways of thinking. Until it is destroyed, we will continue to fight.

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

FillerCollective@RiseUp.net
or
Filler_PGH@protonmail.com

We’ll try to get back to you 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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Rust Punx Radio is a show that highlights the latest in DIY punk & hardcore from across the so-called Rust Belt. Hosted by some kids from the Filler Distro, an anarchist zine distro, record label, and news website based in Pittsburgh, PA.

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AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW ON

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SUPPORT RUST BELT
DIY PUNK & HARDCORE

King Kurtis by C.H.E.W. on In Due Time 7″ [Chicago, 2020]
ironlungpv.bandcamp.com/album/in-due-time-7-lungs-161

Sheol by UNREAL CITY on Satyr/Sheol [Pittsburgh, 2019]
unrealcity.bandcamp.com/album/satyr-sheol

Use of Force by SHROUD on Distort Order EP [Detroit, 2019]
shroudmi.bandcamp.com/album/distort-order-ep

No Future by Pillärs on Pillärs / Wallcreeper split [Cleveland, 2019]
pillrs.bandcamp.com/album/pill-rs-wallcreeper-split

A Lasting Peace by PEACE TALKS? on A Lasting Peace EP [Pittsburgh, 2020]
peacetalkspgh.bandcamp.com/album/a-lasting-peace

Paranoid by LOOSE NUKES on Behind the Screen EP [Pittsburgh, 2019]
beachimpedimentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/behind-the-screen-ep

Boilermaker by RAT-NIP on their 2019 Demo [Pittsburgh, 2019]
rat-nip.bandcamp.com/album/demo

I Have a Noose by ASK on S/T [2019, Michigan]
askhc.bandcamp.com/album/s-t

Society Will Fall by FINAL ASSAULT on Knulla Systemet [Detroit, 2020]
finalassault1.bandcamp.com/album/knulla-systemet

Crime Spree by PURE HEEL on Crime Spree [Buffalo, 2019]
pureheel.bandcamp.com/album/crime-spree-2

Nonsensical Fuck by LOW WAGE on S/T [Champaign, 2020]
lowwage.bandcamp.com/album/low-wage

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