In today’s political climate one cannot predict much, but we are still going to say not to expect the neo-fascist Proud Boys running around trying to play their games over the next year or so as much as they are now. Afterthe fight at the Republican Clubrecently, they became the crew that everyone wants a piece of, and everyone will have their piece, you can bank on that. Even the right-wing New York Post – which is owned by News Corp, which also owns Fox News, who once employed Proud Boy founder Gavin McInnes – called them out as a “far-right hate group” in an articleabout right wing activists harassing Nancy Pelosi during a visit to Florida because someone in the crowd of activists beating on the windows repped the group.
Well, Philly is going to get their shot at them. AFacebook event pageis up for something called the “We the People Rally” which is being organized by two groups, Patriot Events and Sports Beer and Politics, whose own Facebook page has two Proud Boys as administrators. As of now, the page is particularly benign with a disclamer saying the following:
We at Patriot Events and Sports Beer and Politics do not condone the use of violence by any party at this event. This event is to allow the people to make their voices heard. Any violence, racism, or display of hate by any group or individual is extremely prohibited. Any group or party violating these conditions will be removed from this event immediately.
The hosts, planners, security, speakers or their affiliates, members or family will not be held liable for bodily injury or personal damages to anyone in attendance. All civil claims, attorneys costs for the aforementioned will be paid by the claimant.
There is a reason for that. Just before the Proud Boys made asses of themselves in NYC, they were boasting on this page that they were going to come to this event with the purpose of fighting people:
After NYC, these postings were scrubbed from the event page, but too late. Somebody already saw them. This is what people will be mobilizing against, despite the usual tapdancing from the organizers that they don’t condone violence and be vigilant against it. Folks are used to that tapdancing and are not buying into it. The Proud Boys also are good for the “I’m not racist” routine and their supporters point to their members of color. Well, they repped at both Unite the Right rallies in Charlottesville last year and Washington, DC this year, the DC outing featuring a Hispanic Proud Boy. So folks stopped giving them quarter, and are going to do something about them before they really cause innocents to be hurt.
Filler is an autonomous media platform & zine distro, not an organization. Click HERE to submit news, analysis, communiqués, misc. intel, your demo tape… all that good yinzurgent shit.
“For the next 30 days, every day, we will be profiling/exposing a member or supporter of Keystone United (KU) and Keystone State Skinheads (KSS). We will be largely concentrating on Pennsylvania fascists, with a few exceptions.”
Philly Antifa not only followed through, but they even threw in a few bonus boneheads. Local jags include Josh Martin, Terrence Raymond Stockey, and Shane Michael Dilling. Click HERE for the complete list of fascists, read on to check out Philly’s closing thoughts, which we’ve republished here for its insights and because spread that shit.
We hope that the info we’ve collected is helpful to comrades around Pennsylvania and elsewhere. We will be copying all the Keystone United Exposed articles to a stand-alone blog so, as time passes and new content is published here, that info remains easy to find.
Keystone United Exposed effectively identified the major players within KSS, as well as many of its foot soldiers and supporters. It provided a start in mapping out the distribution of KU/KSS around the state and region, so we can know where they are really strong and when they are swelling numbers with out-of-town support.
From l to r: Unknown, Joe Phy, Scott Costa, Jason Cunningham, Ian McCorts, Unknown, Bob Gaus, Bryan Vanagaitis, AJ Olsen and Nunzio Pellegrino of Keystone State Skinheads. All except unknowns were profiled as part of KU Exposed.
Keystone United members. From l to r: Steve Smith, Unknown, Bob Gaus, Joe Garvey, Bryan Vanagaitis, Cody Haulman, Ryan Wojtowicz, Scott Costa, Ian McCorts, Travis Cornell (rip lol), Chris Croumbley, Josh Martin and Shane Dilling. All but the one unknown were exposed during our series.
Having identified this many members and associates of KU/KSS will also lead to us identifying future associates more easily. We exposed many bones at their jobs and to people who live in their communities. However, one drawback of a project like this is such a flood of information can make it inevitable that people will begin to slip through the cracks. It’s possible that by focusing on a smaller number and really campaigning around, for example, getting Steve Smith fired from Gertrude Hawk’s Chocolates warehouse in Dunmore, we could have had a larger impact. The good news is there’s no reason why we can’t still do that.
While preparing these articles, we learned several things that had to be considered and reconciled with our subjects’ associations with a violent white supremacist gang; filled with men who glorify Hitler and Colonialism, who promise “Freedom Through Nationalism” but practice racial terror. Including the frequency that Keystone United members and associates had successfully either totally hidden or sanitized the group’s image for many people in their lives. This sort of “low-intensity,” year round outreach work (aka being fake friendly) is insidiously effective in minimizing the eventual impact once they are eventually exposed. “Oh no! Not Bob… He’s never said anything offensive to me! Well, a few jokes…” is what some will say. Nazis collect these “friends” as an insurance policy against future exposure.
KSS rallying along with their friends in the PA State Militia for anti-refugee “Overpasses Across America” protests From l to r: AJ Olsen, Joe Phy, Ryan Wojtowicz, Steve Smith, and Pat Rogers. All were profiled in KU exposed.
Keystone United has largely maintained their course during the Trump era. Unlike Heimbach and the TWP or the NSM, KU/KSS did not overreach early or open up the gates to any potential murderer they could slap a white polo on. Keystone United abandoned publicly using language about “Racial Holy War” (RaHoWa) or overthrowing the “Zionist Occupied Government” of the U.S. long before Trump. What has changed, though, is that now KU/KSS has a new PR tactic at their disposal, the label of “Trump Supporter.” KU/KSS uses that aforementioned outreach work to reinforce the notions being pushed by right wing media that a) anti-fascists are indiscriminately describing as nazis and attacking all trump supporters or anyone who disagrees with far left politics and b) all actions against trump supporters are being done by Antifa crews or organizations. Both of these claims are patently false. But now, with many major media outlets pushing similar narratives, they have a more receptive audience.
We know that we convey to everyone as to the level of threat KU/KSS represents. This is disheartening, both as Anti-Fascists and as people who, largely, have experienced direct violence from this group or groups allied to them. And ultimately, the conclusion is that white conservatives generally, (and some POC conservatives) don’t really dislike Nazis very much at all. It would seem, that for many of them, the biggest concern is being lumped in with them, and a frustration with nazis not being able to keep their racist rhetoric in the coded language that is popular among “white america.” That said, we hope that this series has made it clear that KSS has not gone away, and their influence and support network extends far beyond their membership.
Keystone United rallying in Harrisburg. A: Scot Costa B: Travis Cornell (rip lol) C: Shane Dilling D: Ian McCorts G: Ryan Wojtowicz H: Steve Smith I: Bob Gaus J: Bryan Vanagaitis K: Chris Croumbley L: Cody Haulman. All were profiled in KU exposed.
When members of the Golden State Skinheads (a crew allied with KSS), wearing TWP shirts,attacked and stabbed anti-fascists in Sacramento in 2016 before being driven off the streets, TWP spokesman Matt Parott attempted to frame it to the media as a fight between “pro and anti-trump groups.” Because of the spiteful mentality of Trump supporters in the face of ever-increasing evidence of his incompetence, narcissism, and corruption, they will defend anyone willing to still publicly identify as a pro Trump. Anti-Fascists need to be aware of this dynamic and begin formulating new strategies to wedge groups like KSS and Blood and Honour from the GOP base. The evidence of what happens if we fail is in the increasingly Fascist rhetoric and tactics being used by pro-trump sectors of government and law enforcement, not to mention all the recent dog whistles to nazism coming out of those sectors.
Pat Rogers of KU/KSS repping support for Golden State Skinheads after word of possible charges for their members stabbing several Anti-Fascists in Sacramento in 2016.
Exposing a nazi is crucial. It can largely neutralize their crossover political organizing, add a tremendous social cost, and makes them think twice about attacking someone, knowing that they will be identified immediately by Anti-Fascists. For KU/KSS, public exposure also undermines the generous amount of effort they put in to distancing their group from its more openly neo-nazi past. However, it is the follow-up that gets the goods. The people who contacted workplaces, passed out flyers around the homes of KSS members, pushed for their expulsion from social clubs and sports teams, and took other actions have done just as much as us to make this a success.
One area we did not touch on during this series as much as we’d like is KU/KSS’ involvement in the “Anti-Antifa movement.” Anti-Antifa Pennsylvania shirts are printed and sold by KSS members, and they are involved in running an Anti-Antifa blog and website that publishes information on Anti-Racists and Anti-Fascists. KU nazis are very encouraging of the Anti-Antifa label as a stand in for more openly nazi imagery and as a unifying point between white nationalists and other far right nationalists who conflict with antifa because of our left and anarchist politics. Pushing Anti-Antifa as a brand within the larger pro-trump right is likely to be a strategy for KU/KSS over the next few years, and the groundwork has already been laid by media outlets, Trump, and 4chan.
Several members of KU/KSS can be seen wearing Anti-Antifa t-shirts in this pic from LED 2017.
We have successfully identified almost all of the attendees of last year’s Leif Erikson Day event in Philly. Only those who hid their faces or stayed away from Fairmount Park have escaped detection so far. So while ultimately our goal is to stop KU from holding Leif Erikson Day at all, the information we gather from it’s continuation is a nice consolation prize. Thanks to last year’s LED, we were able to identify Joe Garvey, Chris Croumbley, Anthony Marcink, and Travis Cornell (rip lol), all previously unknown to us, as Keystone United associates. We were also able to confirm the continued involvement of several individuals who had not been sighted at public KU events for several years, including Shane Dilling andLiam Schaff.
Some of those KSS nazis wore masks because they have something to lose from being exposed by us. Help us identify the “unknowns.” If anyone has information about the any of the unidentified nazis picture in this series, please send it our way.
It is common to end on a note acknowledging that white supremacy and racism are much larger than neo-nazi bonehead crews or their more media-friendly iterations. While this is true, attempts to compartmentalize groups like Keystone United from the larger “mainstream” right seem rooted more in wishful thinking and denial than reality. KU has synthesized American libertarian conservatism with national socialist “race science” to make both more palatable to the other. TwoKeystone United leaders are Luzerne County GOP officials. In the process of this article, we exposed KU members/associates as working for city governments,in large unions, and for international software firms. Keystone United associates are/were active in biker clubs, veterans groups, roller derby leagues, music scenes and local government. Tired tropes and finger pointing about “living in mom’s basement” on both sides of this conflict are generally inaccurate, Daniel “Jack Corbin” McMahon excepted. Anti-Fascists in this state should not discount how embedded Keystone United are in their communities.
Steve Smith and Ryan Wojtowicz of Keystone United. Both are Luzerne County GOP committeemen.
When Bob Gaus and several other KU members attended Trump’s rally in Harrisburg, they did not sit in some special section. When they (likely) went out to get a drink afterwards, they did not go to a nazis-only bar. When they talk politics at the bar with people belonging to “the mainstream right,” those people are most likely left with the impression that they have more in common than difference with the KU members. If we learn nothing else from Trump’s ascension, it should be that the distance between a “non racist” republican (or democrat/independent for that matter) and a neo-nazi is much smaller than we like to believe, and the unifying of those forces is a very real threat.
Nazis have embedded themselves in groups like The Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer or started multi-racial pan-right groups like Vinlanders Social Club founder Brien James’ American Guard.
Republicans have utilized dog whistle and crypto-fascist talking points to retain supporters among the racist right, while not alienating POC and non-racist conservatives. Anti-Fascists have relied too heavily on accusations of racism as a panacea solution to the far right, and the far right has adapted. They have dozens of strategies in place to undermine those accusations before they are even made. We have to take the more difficult path of dissecting the full contents of the ideologies of the far right and conveying why they should be opposed on a plethora of grounds, including cis hetero-sexist positions, militarism and colonialism, and supporting capitalist exploitation of the working class, in addition to white supremacy and racism. Otherwise we will continue to hand groups like Proud Boys, Patriot Prayer and American Guard an easy way to insulate themselves from association with orthodox fascist groups, and an easy way to portray us as hysterical or dishonest.
We would like to thank all those who took action this month based on the articles we’ve released. As we mentioned, actions have already begun and are likely to continue for some time. As this is being written, it is unclear when or if Keystone United will hold their Leif Erikson Day event in Philly. It is possible they’ve even held it already in secret. Should they do so, we have the tools to hold them accountable long after they scurry out of Fairmount, back to their homes in Philly or elsewhere in the state. It is a point of pride for us to put a stop to this demonstration, but not only have we effectively neutralized it as a source of recruitment or propaganda for KU, we have purposed it as an intelligence trove for ourselves. So stay home or come on out, boys. Either way, we’ll use it to our advantage and to further our ultimate goal of destroying Keystone United for good.
Finally, predictably, there has been some blow back from KU/KSS/BNH regarding this series. Threats and harassment has been sent from KU members and supporters in all directions, including to non-involved persons and former members. Sometimes for something as simple as sharing an article. We send our respect and solidarity to the folks facing any sort of harassment as a result of the series. Threats against ourselves have also been levied, both of legal action and assault. For our part, we refuse to be intimidated by a group of coward liars. Two-faced scumbags who have the nerve to call others “degenerates.” Who attack brutally in swarms and talk tough behind police but who cower in our city, coming unannounced and bitterly unwelcome, staying briefly and leaving quickly. Every flash demo and rally, every threat and assault, every rape and murder, creates more of us. It reinforces our resolve. This is the city of gritty, fuckers, and we’re just getting started.
Coming a few weeks after holding a picnic in the area, Keystone United members were cited by police (but tellingly not arrested or charged) following an unprovoked attack on a regular patron of the Jackman Inn in Avalon PA on July 7th.
The Jackman Inn in Avalon, PA, where KSS attacked a black customer and a bartender on July 7th.
“An alleged neo-Nazi group is being accused of targeting an African American customer, assaulting him and using racial slurs against him at the Jackman Inn…
It happened when the victim, patron Paul Morris, walked into a backroom where a group of men were playing pool. The men allegedly used a racial epithet against the victim.
Police say the group of men may have been from Keystone United, which they describe as a racist neo-Nazi group formerly known as the Keystone State Skinheads…
when the bartender asked the group to leave, they attacked Morris…
‘Eight of them jumped Paul,’ (the bar manager) said. ‘He was hit in the face. He bent down to pick up his glasses. He was hit again’…
Morris is now California, but KDKA’s Andy Sheehan spoke with him on the phone. He says one member who called him the n-word said his group would eradicate blacks one-by-one, and then he attacked.
‘They attacked me because they had hate in their hearts. I didn’t do anything to these people,’ Morris said.
Avalon Police detained some members of the group, but did not charge them. Avalon Police Chief Thomas Kokoski said he believes they will be charged, but the incident is still under investigation….
The incident happened on July 7, and Morris’s lawyer, Fred Rabner, questions why no arrests have been made, saying they should be charged, not only with assault but with ethnic intimidation.
‘This is a hate crime, there’s no doubt about it,’ said Rabner. “
Fortunately, Morris received no serious injuries, nor did the bar employee, who was also attacked when they intervened.
It is unknown which KSS members were involved in the attack, but the event is not dissimilar from an attack on a black man by 3 KSS members in Scranton, PA back in 2003, one of whom was Luzerne County republican committeeman and co-founder of KSS Steve Smith.
[Update: six of the ten fascists responsible are Natasha Dawn Bowers, 33, of Roaring Spring; Terrence Raymon Stockey, 40, of Beaver; Jeremy L. Ingram, 35, of Hollidaysburg; Travis Lee Cornell, 43, of Marianna; Crystal Lynn Shields, 23, of Tarentum; and James Edward Kryl, 45, of Pittsburgh’s North Side.]
Steve Smith is a longtime Neo-Nazi. He is a former Klansman, co-founder of KSS and Luzerne county republican committeeman.
Smith was in attendance at the KSS picnic in the area at the end of May, but it is unknown if he was involved in the attack on the 7th.
We could go on forever about state/cop bias in favor of white supremacists (and white people in general), for example, participating in an Anti-Racist march where some windows got broken can get you arrested and looking at 70 years while attacking 2 people during a hate crime gets you cited with no charges. Or we could belabor that those who equate Antifa with Nazis, or claim we have “Anti-White Bias” would be hard pressed to find an incident where Antifa randomly attack a white man for his race when he comes into a bar to deliver a thank you note to one of the employees, but we won’t.
This was a horrific attack that could have ended in much more serious injury or even death, as attacks by KSS membershave in the past. We are glad Mr. Morris and the bar employee escaped serious injury.
Keystone United/KSS have been a blight on PA for too long. If we can hope for any silver lining to this attack, it is that people in this state will start taking the threat they represent seriously again, and that the years of PR spinKSS has employed to try and convince people that their “old days” of randomly attacking People of Color, Queers and Anti-Racists were behind them in favor of “positive white activism” have been debunked.
Anyone with information about this attack, specifically which KSS members were involved, should contact us. We plan to identify those involved and release their names, which is more than the state could be counted on. No one should be able to commit a racist assault on Saturday and go back to anonymity on Sunday.
From l to r: Unknown, Joe Phy, Scott Costa, Jason Cunningham, Ian McCorts, Unknown, Bob Gaus, Bryan Vanagaitis, AJ Olsen and Nunzio Pellegrino of Keystone State Skinheads. All except unknowns were profiled as part of KU Exposed.
Keystone United members. From l to r: Steve Smith, Unknown, Bob Gaus, Joe Garvey, Bryan Vanagaitis, Cody Haulman, Ryan Wojtowicz, Scott Costa, Ian McCorts, Travis Cornell (rip lol), Chris Croumbley, Josh Martin and Shane Dilling. All but the one unknown were exposed during our series.
KSS rallying along with their friends in the PA State Militia for anti-refugee “Overpasses Across America” protests From l to r: AJ Olsen, Joe Phy, Ryan Wojtowicz, Steve Smith, and Pat Rogers. All were profiled in KU exposed.
Keystone United rallying in Harrisburg. A: Scot Costa B: Travis Cornell (rip lol) C: Shane Dilling D: Ian McCorts G: Ryan Wojtowicz H: Steve Smith I: Bob Gaus J: Bryan Vanagaitis K: Chris Croumbley L: Cody Haulman. All were profiled in KU exposed.
Pat Rogers of KU/KSS repping support for Golden State Skinheads after word of possible charges for their members stabbing several Anti-Fascists in Sacramento in 2016.
Several members of KU/KSS can be seen wearing Anti-Antifa t-shirts in this pic from LED 2017.
Steve Smith and Ryan Wojtowicz of Keystone United. Both are Luzerne County GOP committeemen.
Nazis have embedded themselves in groups like The Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer or started multi-racial pan-right groups like Vinlanders Social Club founder Brien James’ American Guard.
