TORCH NETWORK

Those of our readers who have been Anti-Fascists for a few years may remember that during a period from 2010-2012 there were several successful hacks of Neo-Nazi websites that led to the identification of dozens of Neo-Nazis and White Nationalists.

One of the more interesting cases was that of Ian Hans Lichterman. Lichterman was listed as a member of Blood and Honour, an international network of Neo-Nazi organizations started by Ian Stuart Donaldson, the lead singer of Skrewdriver. Upon some investigating, it was discovered that Lichterman was also a Philly PD officer who had even recently been commended at a crime stoppers awards ceremony.

Shortly after the hack, Lichterman left the Philly PD and was working as a private security contractor (mercenary) in the middle east for some time, presumably using his connections from his time as a Marine. Recently, at the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice’s march during the DNC, someone noticed that one of the bike cops working the event had some shady tattoos. That cop has been identified as Ian Lichterman, back on duty in Philly.

One was a rather generic Nationalist tattoo of an AR-15 over an american flag with “For God and Country” written above it. That is the motto of the American Legion, a veterans organization that was very sympathetic to Fascism in Europe before WWII.

“The president of the American Legion in 1923 was quoted as saying, ‘If ever needed, the American Legion stands ready to protect our country’s institutions and ideals as the Fascisti dealt with the destructionists who menaced Italy.’ In reply to whether this meant taking over the government, he said ‘Exactly that. The American Legion is fighting every element that threatens our democratic government-soviets, anarchists, I.W.W., revolutionary socialists and every other Red ..Do not forget that the Fascisti are to Italy what the American Legion is to the United States.’”

If that wasn’t bad enough, the other tattoo was this:

That eagle design is called a partieadler. With wings outstretched and a simplistic design, the partieadler is distinct from the national emblem in every other era of German history, a history that stretches from the reichsadler’s first appearance in the 12th century, to its present design. It is the eagle of Nazi Germany specifically. And the word “fatherland” is also a reference to Nazi rhetoric oft-used to describe Germany during the Third Reich.

Oh, and then there’s these:

“Real Americans” haven’t felt so safe since Hulkamania was taking over.

Those pics are taken from Lichterman’s flikr account, which is under “Panzerhund0311.”

It is obvious from his past association with Blood and Honour, his Nazi tattoos, his cosplaying a Third Reich soldier and his reactionary, racist, anti-communist photoshops that Ian Hans Lichterman is an extreme danger to the people of Philadelphia (especially People of Color, Muslims and Anti-Racists) as long as he has a gun and a badge.

This information coming to light could lead to Lichterman’s removal, but one thing is certain: it will not change the fact that Police were developed specifically to protect White Supremacy and Patriarchy in this country. As long as Philly PD exist, their ranks will be full of the bigoted, power-hungry and corrupt, as well as a handful of fools and cowards who get the “good cop” label and serve to protect people like Lichterman.

For a world without Cops or Nazis, or Nazi Cops.

Originally posted on Philly Antifa:

According to dozens of media outlets, what began as an investigation by the state Attorney General into ACS and its members quickly morphed into a drug sting. According to nj.com:

“Operation Skin Deep, as the investigation was called, started out as a surveillance operation targeting white supremacist groups in Atlantic City. While monitoring the activity of one group, the Atlantic City Skin Heads, detectives identified several individuals who appeared to be selling cocaine, according to Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the attorney general.”

DiPilla has been featured on our “Local Nazi and Fascists” page for years now. Rumors have always circulated around Philly and NJ that ACS was involved in drug dealing, but I guess now there is some evidence to that.

From the Ocean City Patch:

“Benjamin DiPilla, 28, is charged with second-degree distribution of cocaine and second-degree conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Additionally, 62-year-old Thomas Bullock, of Millville, is charged with first-degree distribution of cocaine and second-degree conspiracy to distribute cocaine; and 31-year-old Thomas White, of Galloway, is charged with first-degree distribution of cocaine and second-degree conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

The arrests of DiPilla, Bullock and White led to the first-degree racketeering indictment charging 12 men in connection with a drug ring that marketed cocaine and designer drugs online and distributed them via the mail.”

It is unclear from the articles whether DiPilla was involved in the ring directly or just bought from them and then flipped it locally, but the article does seem to imply that Dipilla and his cohorts might have had something to do with the other indictments.

Click the link above for the full post.

The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund is designed to provide fast material support to anti-fascists and anti-racists around the world whenever they encounter trouble as a result of their stand against hate.

Anyone can make a proposal to use the Fund by emailing us at: antifaintl@gmail.com.  All decisions are made via consensus between all those who donated at least  $20U.S./€20/£15.  If consensus can’t be reached, the proposal is decided by a simple majority vote.

In its first six months, the fund has:
-received over $1700U.S./1600EUR in donations from supporters in eight countries
-supported two dozen anti-fascists in Australia, Belarus, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S.
-received endorsements from The Torch Anti-Fascist Network (U.S.) and Föreningen Fånggruppen (Sweden)

Supporters can now make regular monthly contributions of any amount automaticallyby signing up here.  This is the best possible way to support the Fund and the anti-fascists and anti-racists it provides much-needed material aid to. they encounter trouble as a result of their stand against hate.

Anyone can make a proposal to use the Fund by emailing us at: antifaintl@gmail.com.  All decisions are made via consensus between all those who donated at least  $20U.S./€20/£15.  If consensus can’t be reached, the proposal is decided by a simple majority vote.

In its first six months, the fund has:
-received over $1700U.S./1600EUR in donations from supporters in eight countries
-supported two dozen anti-fascists in Australia, Belarus, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S.
-received endorsements from The Torch Anti-Fascist Network (U.S.) and Föreningen Fånggruppen (Sweden)

Supporters can now make regular monthly contributions of any amount automatically by signing up here.  This is the best possible way to support the Fund and the anti-fascists and anti-racists it provides much-needed material aid to.

It is now less than 6 weeks until the TORCH Anti-Fascist Network national conference here in Philly. So finish your travel preparations if you are coming from out of town and send in your registration information. E-mail PhillyAntifascists@gmail.com for registration forms if you haven’t gotten them yet.

The public section of the conference will take place the afternoon and evening of Saturday November 7^th at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) in West Philly. We are very excited about all public events.

The first event, starting at 2:00 PM on Saturday will be a panel discussion and Q&A. The subject of the talk is “Militant Anti-Fascism and the Black Lives Matter Movement” and will include several Anti-Fascists and Black Lives Matter activists discussing the role that Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists, both in and out of uniform, have played in opposing the Black Lives Matter movement and how Anti-Fascists can counter them effectively.

Immediately after the talk at 3:00 PM, we will be hosting a screening of “In Memory of Our Friend Ivan,” an hour-long documentary about the life and murder of Russian Anti-Fascist Ivan Khutorskoi who was assassinated in Moscow in 2009. The film was only recently released with English subtitles recently and has not been screened more than a handful of times in the U.S. After the film at 4:00pm we will be showing a short sneak preview of “No Fascist USA,” an upcoming documentary about the Anti-Fascist movement in the United States by a member of Antifa Philadelphia.

Both those events are free though we will be collecting donations for Anti-Fascists political prisoners and those facing legal repression for Anti-Fascist work.

We will then be kicking everyone out for a few hours to get ready for the Show of Unity that evening. Doors will re-open at 6:30. 5 bucks to get in which goes to the acts and Antifa prisoners.

Christopher Walking (Philly Math Punk)

Leisure Muffin (Just listen. We don’t even know.)

Novotore (Chicago Hardcore Hip-Hop)

Erik Petersen (Mischief Brew) (Philly’s favorite son, anarcho-punk-folk laureate and all-around sweetheart)

If you or your crew want to table the show e-mail us to set it up. Look forward to seeing you all for the Conference.

Solidarity,
Antifa Philadelphia

from https://freeeddien.wordpress.com/

Columbia, SC native, Eddien Patterson was arrested during the July 18 anti-KKK demonstration in South Carolina. He was initially charged with 2nd degree felony assault and battery by a mob as well as 3rd misdemeanor assault and battery. Eddien was on probation at the time of arrest and now is serving ten months for violating the probation. He is currently being held at the Richland County jail.

On July 29 Eddien was given the additional charge of Breach of Peace of a High and Aggravated Nature for allegedly breaking the windows of a KKK members pick up truck. Currently we are trying to find a lawyer for Eddien, but he has requested that money be added to his books and desires to receive letters.

to send money, either send donations to free.eddien@gmail.com on PayPal or go to https://richland.mcdanielsupply.co/deposit/index. his # is 591561.

For more info: free.eddien@gmail.com

Write Eddien:

Eddien Andre Patterson #591561
E Dorm
Alvin S Glenn Detention Center
201 John Mark Dial Dr
Columbia, SC 29209

Taken from itsgoingdown:

On Monday, July 27th, our friend and comrade, Stephen Loughman, was arrested and charged with “breach of peace” for his support the week before at an anti-KKK rally in Columbia, SC on July 18th, 2015. Local activists had called on folks from across the southern region to help South Carolina’s communities stand against the Klan and other hate groups, who like many groups were trying to use the Confederate flag debate as a recruitment tool.

We would like to bring attention to the many mistakes the media made while covering this story. Even though the chapters of the Ku Klux Klan and National Socialist Movement (a neo-Nazi group) were also from out of state, the media and the local sheriff’s office would have you believe that Stephen makes “a career” out of traveling around and causing trouble. This is blatantly untrue and is a tactic that has been historically used to undermine people’s movements struggling for liberation, particularly in the South. In addition, the skewed coverage by WISTV10 also fails to mention Stephen as an explicitly anti-racist protester, potentially putting his reputation and safety on the line. Stephen was also never contacted for his part of the story. While we understand that white power hate groups have a history of seeking retaliation against people who oppose them, including harassment, intimidation, and physical violence, we want to take this opportunity to clarify why Stephen was there because the media did not do so. This irresponsible coverage has the potential to put our friend in real danger in a multitude of ways.

The smear campaign that has begun against Stephen is an obvious attempt to distance South Carolina residents from any image of discontent and anger against both popular and institutional white supremacy. The KKK and the NSM are trying to defend and proliferate white supremacy at all costs. In the wake of righteous sadness and anger, fueled by Dylann Roof’s acts in Charleston, the state and the police still stand to protect these and other hate groups that inspired him. His political violence in the murder of 9 black people was a spark that lit the fire against institutions set up in South Carolina centuries ago. From the clandestine attacks on a dozen black churches, to the every day brutality of police departments and prisons across the country, we can be sure that white supremacy is alive and well in the U.S.

Although Stephen was in direct contact with the arresting officer the day of the protests, he was never arrested or told he had a warrant until he went back to South Carolina to retrieve his confiscated phone a week later. He was then taken to the deplorable Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, where he was held in unclean facilities. Steve has since had to see a doctor for a Staph infection he received in custody.

Don’t let the authorities and the media paint the events of July 18th as the work of a lone white anarchist. The communities that stood against white supremacists, the true “outside agitators,” that day did so on their terms, to defend their city. If that means calling friends for help, so be it.

Towards a world without white supremacy,
The Defend Steve Support Committee

Plz circulate and donate to Steve’s support fund:

http://www.gofundme.com/e6b3tukuc

Keep Updated:

http://www.facebook.com/defendsteve

A Sample of the Smearing being done in the media:

http://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article29632162.html