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

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. 

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.

– some anti-fascists based in the East End

Anonymous submission received on 08.22.18

Sometime after midnight on Saturday, August 18th, a dozen or so anarchists rolled up on a Skull Fest (it’s a punk fest) show with a sound system, flags, banners, and goodie bags full of road flares, black masks, and pamphlets about the National Prison Strike.

From August 21st (the anniversary of Nat Turner’s revolt and of the assassination of Black Guerrilla George Jackson) through September 9th (the anniversary of the Attica prison uprising), prisoners from all across the so-called united states are rising against the modern plantation system.

As It’s Going Down writes,

“Already, the strike has spread into Canada, and numerous facilities around the US are already seeing hunger strikes pop off as prisoners issue demands. Prison officials are also cracking down on various facilities, shutting them down, and locking up prison rebel leaders as deep in the hole as they can.”

Since we figured Skull Fest punx probably know shit is fucked and might be down (?), we took the opportunity to incite our friends on the outside to act in solidarity with our friends who are locked down on the inside. Even small gestures like ours can subvert the isolation of prison, inviting the unrest that’s too often locked and hidden behind walls into our streets.

Out of the large crowd, a few punx showed interest in joining the march, and some actually did for a bit, which was tight. But tbh most remained indifferent and just kinda stared at us. One jag yelled, “Burn out already!!” If only he knew how many times we have (: …but pamphlets about the strike were distributed to the fest goers, and a few fists were raised. Punk is dead, blah blah. ANYWAYS, the march made its way up on to fucking Butler Street. What’s good, hipsters?

After leaving the show, we marched a short ways through Lawrenceville, distributing literature to some (surprisingly receptive?) folks at a few hipster bars. We dispersed shortly after the cops arrived, but not before getting a few laughs in first—this one pig’s tough-guy “who’s in charge?” routine devolved into him jogging from person to person straight-up pleading for someone, anyone, to talk to him. He had this sorta desperate look on his face, clearly just couldn’t process it. Dude was shook as fuck. The authors of this report would also like to add that we hope he winds up like those two screws who got shanked at Allegheny County Jail the other day.

It’s been a hot summer in Pittsburgh, but as the homies at Torchlight write,

“[Pittsburgh’s new protest restrictions] make it obvious that the cops are gaining confidence and worrying less about Pittsburgh going up like Ferguson.”

Spontaneous, unpredictable actions do more than show solidarity and “raise awareness” — they disrupt the state’s ability to use threats of repression to siphon unrest into the professional Left’s array of dead-end “community” dialogues and electoral campaigns. The new protest guidelines threaten to criminalize radical individuals, crews, and organizations who continue to organize beyond the self-appointed leaders and managers of the various movements. So let’s continue catching the pigs off guard, challenging their newfound confidence, and opening up space for further decentralized, autonomous action — by any means necessary.

Solidarity with everyone that’s still pushing the envelope in Pittsburgh. Solidarity with all prisoners. 

Behind Enemy Lines probably said it better than us:

Immersed in political strategies
Government policies create endless catastrophes
and we all pay the price
when our movement becomes stagnant, anchored by apathy
We can’t just give up, we can’t just give in
There are no wasted attempts when it comes to action
The smallest act could cause a chain reaction
that could bring this entire system down
Light it up
Ignite a spark
Every single action could be the start
It will take all of our efforts to get out of the dark
You could be the one
that offers hope and inspiration
to everyone who feels defeated
and moves the depleted towards motivation
and helps the flame continue to burn
The most important thing that we still need to learn
is that we’re in this together, don’t shut out one another
Don’t ever forget that we depend on each other

 – some anarchists

For more on the prison strike, check out prisonstrike.com, It’s Going Down, Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, follow #PrisonStrike & plenty of other stuff.

For background information, strike demands, as well as a list of solidarity events, please go here.

Originally published by It’s Going Down

Report from Steel City John Brown Gun Club, who along with other community organizations, organized in the wake of a racist neo-Nazi attack.

Paul Morris, a long time resident of Avalon PA, was attacked on July 7th at the Jackman Inn, a local bar. He was trying to deliver a thank-you note to a friend who worked in the kitchen who had recently catered his son’s birthday. Within minutes of entering the establishment, Paul was attacked by a mob of white power skinheads, all members of Keystone United. KU is a PA wide hate group, originally known as the Keystone State Skinheads. They have been involved in numerous beatings, criminal investigations and murders since their inception, and have ties to the hyper-violent Hammerskin Nation, one of the country’s most blood drenched white hate organizations.

Paul and his friend were able to partially fight off the attack despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered, sustaining only minor physical injuries. The Nazis fled when police arrived on scene. They needn’t have bothered, as the KU members were released and not charged until days later and only after considerable public outrage. When Paul initially asked to file charges, he was told by the responding officer that he wouldn’t be allowed because he “didn’t try hard enough to get away”, underlining better than we ever could the default coalition that exists between police and organized white power.

In recent weeks since the attack on Paul, the Steel City JBGC has been working in coordination with BLAQK OPS and Avalon community members to raise awareness within the greater Pittsburgh area that fascists have been flying their colors, committing violence, and recruiting in our communities. We have been distributing flyers and posters publicizing the names and faces of Keystone United members as well as fascist symbols and insignia.
Realizing that spreading information alone was an insufficient solution in and of itself, we began planning a more concrete response.

Alongside BLAQK OPS (Black Liberated Army of Queens and Kings) and local residents, we made plans to throw a community picnic in Avalon, as a display of unity and cross-racial solidarity in the middle of territory Keystone United is attempting to claim. The event was aggressively publicized in Avalon as well as over social media, making no attempt to hide our collective contempt for KU or their cowardly tactics.

August 12th, the one year anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville VA, was selected as the date of the action. Our intent in this was two fold. First, to connect the struggle against white supremacy across terrain, explicitly tying together the crimes of KU to those of Alex James Fields and the whole of the fascist movement since it’s inception, lest people forget or underestimate the seriousness of the threat we face. And secondly, to honor Heather Heyer and all martyrs for liberty in the truest way available to us: not with ceremony, but in active struggle against tyranny and racial terrorism.

On A12 we met in Avalon Park and spent the first several hours in fellowship with one another, enjoying good food, a bright day with mild weather and the company of neighbors and allies. The picnic was heavily attended by local residents and families, as well as representatives from several political and racial justice organizations. Children ran and played under signs proclaiming “United Against Fascism” and “Keystone United are a bunch of Jaggofs.”

A JBGC fireteam created a perimeter, securing the location in case any KU got up the nerve to make an attempt on the event. None showed up.

Later on, members of BLAQK OPS announced that those who were able and willing would now commence a march through Avalon, in defiance of the fascist threat attempting to gain a foothold in the town.

We gathered ourselves and a group of about 30, bearing a 20 foot banner reading, MOURN THE DEAD. FIGHT LIKE HELL FOR THE LIVING, and set out, marching the length of California Avenue while chanting “Charlottesville to Avalon! Nazi trash get off our lawn!”

The JBGC fireteam flanked the march, armored and open carrying as a defensive formation. Again, no fascists appeared, and the police, though on site, did not approach the march. Towards the end of the demonstration, a moment of silence was held out of respect to the memory of Heather Heyer, killed a year ago that day. As we marched, her name was sung out along side that of Tubman, Shakur, Brown and other heroes who risked or lost their lives in the fight against white supremacy.

We extend our sincere thanks to Paul, BlaQK OPS and the residents of Avalon who came out to live bravely together and made the event a success.

Originally published by Torchlight

Originally published by Philly Antifa on 07-17-2018

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.

According to a local news report:

“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 members have 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 spin KSS 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.

Time to shut these fucks down. More to come.