On the night of March 5th, 2020, the Pittsburgh police murdered Elijah Brewer, a 25 year-old black man from Mt. Oliver. There were no protests, no hashtags… most of Pittsburgh didn’t even seem to notice. But why?
Both the corporate media and the white liberal-left are guilty of perpetuating the silence around Elijah’s murder. The corporate media focused on sensationalizing unverified police speculations, painting Elijah as nothing more than a criminal before abruptly discontinuing coverage of the story. Likely turned off by the media’s portrayal of Elijah, Pittsburgh’s liberal-left largely dismissed or ignored his murder.
In seizing this historical moment, let us end this silence.
1) The Corporate Media
Allegheny County police Superintendent Coleman McDonough held one press conference. Despite having attended the exact same press conference, nearly every corporate media outlet presents a strikingly different narrative of events.
At 6:55pm, 3 detectives and 1 intelligence officer in an unmarked GMC Yukon pulled over Elijah Brewer (the passenger) and his friend (the driver remains unnamed) around the 200 block of East Ohio Street. The officers asked both men to step out of the vehicle…
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, WESA, WPXI, andKDKA (CBS Pittsburgh) all report that Elijah fired first, possibly twice, and that an unknown number of detectives then “returned fire” with an unknown number of bullets, killing Elijah.
Meanwhile, WTAE, PATCH, andTribLive report that it is unclear who shot first.
During the alleged firefight, one officer was reportedly wounded by gunfire originating from…
Naturally, none of what has been reported has been verified given that not one of the four officers wore a body-camera, the undercover vehicle had no dashboard camera, and the police say there are no known security cameras in the area and that they’d like help finding one. Allegheny County police Superintendent Coleman McDonough explained this in hispress conference by stating that all four of the detectives were simultaneously wearing official police vests and unmarked plainclothes, which makes perfect sense if you don’t think about it.
More could be said, but this is nothing new. The police and the capitalist media are just tools of a white supremacist settler state; the “facts” that get reported are either the stories that sell to racist suburbanites, or they are the stories spoon-fed to journalists by state officials. For all we know, the gun could’ve been planted.
2) The Liberal-Left
The liberal-left is equally responsible for the silence around Elijah’s murder. It is possible that some leftists in Pittsburgh may have ignored this instance of police violence because they believed one of the various corporate media narratives. Others maybe remained quiet because felt that it would be too difficult to exploit this tragedy to recruit for their organization, as that would require publicly supporting a black man who might have been “guilty.” Perhaps some on the left even believed that this extra-judicial execution was justified, because Elijah was a convicted felon and was alleged to have fired upon officers of the law.
Elijah Brewer, “EZ” as he was affectionately known, 25 of Mt. Oliver departed this life 3/5/20, born to Clinton and Jarmayne Brewer 10/29/1994 in Sheridan Pennsylvania.
He obtained his GED from Pittsburgh Job Corps September of 2011 soon after getting his GED he attended CCAC to study Music and Business Management. He became a certified Fitness Trainer 3/2019. He was employed at Roots in Oakland as a Food Service Worker until his death. He enjoyed music, bodybuilding, and nutrition as well as playing basketball, reading, writing, and poetry.
EZ loved family and was family oriented, he was a well-known Rap Artist (started rapping at the age of 12) and loved his Rap brothers to no end, Nathan Freeman Jr. ( Nizzy ), DaShauntae Jones-Peeples, Davon Nichols. He believed in opportunities, welcomed challenges and inspired all who came to know him.
The authors of this article believe that the question of Elijah’s innocence or guilt is entirely irrelevant.
He shouldn’t have been pulled over in the first place. Racism and wealth-disparity shouldn’t exist in the first place. The institutional successor to slave patrols commonly known as “the police” shouldn’t exist in the first place.
We are firmly on Elijah’s side in every version of events that’s been presented, including the one where he shoots first.
We speak on behalf of no one but ourselves. We write this for those who feel similarly—to let you know that you are not alone, and that we will see you in the streets over the coming weeks.
Only the system is guilty. Fuck the police.
Rest in Power, Elijah Jamaal Brewer.
Rest in Power, George Floyd. Rest in Power, Antwon Rose Jr. Rest in Power, Mark Daniels.
Zine submission from PGH DSA, received on 10.17.19
This publication was created by members of the Housing Committee of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), with contributions from housing experts and organizations from around the Greater City of Pittsburgh. We are a group of people trying to arm ourselves with the knowledge to control our housing in our communities. As such, we would like to clarify that while this publication was researched and fact-checked to the best of the writers’ abilities, we are not lawyers.
This publication, or any publication that follows it, does not constitute or substitute for legal counsel. We do hope that this zine serves as an educational resource to all who need or read it.
To our community, comrades, and the people of Pittsburgh:
Shelter from the elements allows humans to carry out our lives. These sheltering structures facilitate our social relationships and build our communities. Housing is among the most immediate human needs and is the foundational element to free, healthy communities and people. It is universal to humans, and therefore housing must be a human right for all those in our global community.
We believe it is morally corrupt and grossly exploitative that humans must toil just to hold on to their living space. Americans have little control of their housing as renters, while landlords control and profit from housing for so many. As a result of this unilateral desire for profit, speculation and gentrification continue to ravage and displace marginalized communities and communities of color. We see and reject this immoral, even violent, process.
We know it is possible to have beautiful, quality, affordable housing that is controlled by the people who live in it. We not only believe that housing is a human right, but that we all have the right to quality housing. Too often, people are too financially or logistically strained to find safe, secure, affordable, and quality housing – and all too often end up with a slumlord. Slum property is not legal, and city law says it may be dealt with by repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal. We want to provide resources to renters with exploitative landlords – as well as making others aware of slumlords who take advantage of renters, so that all renters understand their rights, as well as the actions they can take. We hope this zine gives voice to this knowledge and adds the Pittsburgh DSA Housing committee’s voice to those in the Pittsburgh community demanding and fighting for affordable, just housing.
For more about the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), check out:
On July 13th, Willem Van Spronsen was killed by police as he attempted to burn a fleet of vehicles that mere hours later would be used to destroy the lives of working people and families. That alone should be enough to know who he was.
Willem was a member of the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club, and though we were separated by a continent, we fight for the same convictions he fought for, under the same banner. We hold him in our hearts as a Martyr in the battle for universal freedom and dignity.
In the wake of such an loss, we are forced to wrestle with a complex of conflicting emotions. First among these is sadness. We mourn the loss of a comrade, an elder and a seasoned fighter for liberty who cannot be replaced. We mourn because we know that a part of his actions were driven by despair. This is a weight we feel acutely, because we suspect that it was only in the absence of a stronger abolitionist movement that he felt the need to lay down his life so resolutely. We ask ourselves if Willem might not still be with us, if the streets were flooded with recalcitrant bodies, refusing to allow the sins of Germany 1933, Japanese Internment, or the horrors of the US Reservation system to re-inflict themselves on the soil of America, 2019. In that way, his sacrifice demands of us that we fight harder and risk more, so that resistance to fascism need not be a suicide mission for the most committed. He demands of us that we never again let anyone who is willing to risk life and freedom for their neighbors go on alone.
We also mourn because we know that this will not be the last time we are forced to reckon with the loss of a brave sibling in battle. Of the many gifts Willem has given us, the opportunity to learn how to draw strength from our fallen is particularly dear. We believe this is what we mean when he told us:
“To those burdened with the wreckage from my actions, I hope that you will make the best use of that burden.”
Mixed with this sadness however, is an anger that we all feel, like a collective wound. When we have gathered together in the days since his murder, we can feel that anger in one another as hot and bright as in ourselves. It crackles in the air around us and between us. The anger of indignation, refusal, and defiance. The anger that says “your days of sleeping easy while you prey on our most vulnerable neighors are over”. The function of Martyrs is that they do not die. They stay with us. March beside us, lighting a fire in our hearts and stiffening our backs. The fire that Willem lit did not smother when his heart stopped beating. It poured out of him to fill the hearts of thousands up to overflowing, just as Sid Hatfield’s did when he was gunned down on the courthouse steps. Just as John Brown’s did when he rode the gallows in Virginia. We will stoke that fire until it burns away all complacency, all fear, and all impulse to half measures. Until it burns away any cage, wire, or wall that would keep human beings from breathing free air.
Willem Van Spronsen’s body lies a’mouldering in the grave but his truth is marching on.
For the Patriot and Militia movement folks who may be reading this, Willem’s final statement was as much for you as was for his friends. We ask that you think seriously about his words and actions. Ask yourself what tyranny you are preparing to resist when you say you won’t comply. Who you are serving when you pull on your plates and carry your rifle into the streets? Which side are you on? Tyranny is here, even if you aren’t yet the ones under its boot.
“When I was a boy, in post-war Holland, later France, my head was filled with stories of the rise of fascism in the ’30s. I promised myself that I would not be one of those who stands by as neighbors are torn from their homes and imprisoned for somehow being perceived as lesser. You don’t have to burn the motherfucker down, but are you going to just stand by? This is the test of our fundamental belief in real freedom and our responsibility to each other. This is a call to patriots, too, to stand against this travesty against everything that you hold sacred. I know you. I know that in your hearts, you see the dishonor in these camps. It’s time for you, too, to stand up to the money pulling the strings of every goddamn puppet pretending to represent us. I’m a man who loves you all and this spinning ball so much that I’m going to fulfill my childhood promise to myself to be noble.”
The following report-back is from Unity Division, a Pittsburgh-based anarchist collective dedicated to street theater and direct action to promote systemic change.
It was initially published by It’s Going Down on July 12, 2019, and details noise demonstrations that took place outside the home of a former CEO connected to the building of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and at a shareholder meeting in downtown Pittsburgh.
In the early morning hours of July 10th, a protest was held outside the home of the now former EQT Corporation CEO Robert McNally in the town of Wexford, PA. EQT Corporation is the largest fracking company in the United States and is responsible for the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline that communities in the Mid-Atlantic region have been resisting since it was announced.
At the action, McNally hid in his two million dollar home while the protesters banged on drums, blared cars horns, and shouted chants and obscenities at him. Police didn’t arrive until a half hour later to tell the protestors they were being “too loud for this hour of the night.”
About 8 officers arrived on the scene and also attracted the attention of a local news team that covered the protest. No arrests were made although the protesters did have fun taunting the police who were basically powerless to do anything since no real criminal activity had taken place (at least not by the protestors).
Later in the morning a second noise demo was held along with a banner drop in downtown Pittsburgh to protest the annual shareholder meeting of EQT. Members of EQT’s board and other shareholders were forced to go around the demo while protestors chanted “1-2-3, Fuck EQT” as they banged on buckets and scrap metal to make as much of a disturbance as possible. After the meeting it was announced that McNally would be removed as CEO due to a successful proxy fight by shareholders who wanted to gain control of the company. Rest assured we will be at their homes soon enough.
***
Filler is a DIY media platform, free-to-comrades recording studio & anarchist zine distro affiliated with the Steel City Autonomous Movement (SCAM) and Pittsburgh’s autonomous student network.
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.
This is an incomplete list of autonomous actions taken in solidarity with the (inter)national prison strike. It is comprised of several anonymous photo submissions and brief report-backs, all of which were sent in to Filler prior to the strike’s start on August 21st.
Abolitionist Yinzers
Today (8/12), an autonomous group of abolitionist yinzers hit the streets of Pittsburgh to promote solidarity with the upcoming national prison strike & call for police abolition.
Graffiti Actions
An Idea
The other night, a friend and I conspired over a sigil to support the prison strike. Later, after catching wind of the counter-repression phone blasts, they remembered a story about an anarchist who faxed thousands of copies of a black piece of paper to several prisons that repressed comrades on the inside. Later that night, after throwing our sigil up around town, we found a working fax machine.
All technology is already weaponized, might as well use it…
Against the prison state. Against a predictable life. Against civilization. Against consensus reality.
Against toner cartridges >:-)
We also wrote Eric King’s name on a bunch of shit. Much love.
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.
“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 Torchlightwrite,
“[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. Solet’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
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.
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 anoise 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.
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 DALarry Krasner as a model for Allegheny County. APABof 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 therejust 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.
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.
***
Related counter-information:
*the image below should read: East Pittsburgh police officer…
I AM NOT WHAT YOU THINK;
fighting for the memory and life of Antwon Rose Jr.
I AM NOT WHAT YOU THINK!
A Poem by Antwon Rose – 5/16/2016
I am confused and afraid I wonder what path I will take I hear that there’s only two ways out I see mothers bury their sons I want my mom to never feel that pain I am confused and afraid
I pretend all is fine I feel like I’m suffocating I touch nothing so I believe all is fine I worry that it isn’t though I cry no more I am confused and afraid
I understand people believe I’m just a statistic I say to them I’m different I dream of life getting easier I try my best to make my dreams true I hope that it does I am confused and afraid
Antwon Rose Jr. was murdered by the East Pittsburgh Police Tuesday night, June 19th. Officer Michael Rosfeld pulled over the jitney (An unregistered cab in Pittsburgh) Antwon was riding in, alleging that it matched a car involved in a drive-by shooting 15 minutes prior. Reports say that Rosfeld ordered the occupants to the ground, guns drawn. When Antwon and one other individual fled, Rosfeld starting firing. With three shots in the back, unarmed 17 year old Antwon Rose Jr. lay dying. The officer who pulled the trigger, Michael Rosfeld, was sworn in merely 90 minutes prior to the shooting. A cellphone video shot from an apartment window spread quickly, showing Antwon running then being shot down video here, the women in the video asking “why are they shooting at him, he was running?”
Why? Since the shooting, the Pittsburgh FOP has been quick to back their 90 minutes in the force trigger happy buddy. The mainstream news has gone wild trying to link Antwon with this drive-by that as of yet, has no evidence to link him to. Why would the cops release the jitney driver without charge if that was the case? Why would the police shoot someone unarmed in the back without provocation?
Why? Because of systemic racism of the greater Pittsburgh area police. Because the police are only harbingers of violence to communities of color; killing or incarcerating, creating trauma and 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, a black man killed by a 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. The 90-minute cop, Michael Rosfeld , and all his buddies see Antwon, Mark, Jordon, and all people of color in Pittsburgh as threatening.
Today we stand three days since Antwon was shot, and the anger in the streets is not letting up. Day and night in Pittsburgh and the surrounding boroughs, there have been rallys, vigils, and marches. There has been major traffic stoppage, and in these spaces real grieving is being worked through as people yell at police, and demand their anger to be heard. The usual false-promise politicians have stolen the megaphones, trying score some votes, but others refuse to let their anger be quelled.
As we move forward as a city, balancing anger with grief, we search for new ways to support each other, new ways to know each other, and new ways to tear this modern day plantation disguised as a liberal, “green” tech mecca the fuck down.
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.
