After North Philly vandalism, local anarchists raise money, talk tactics online

Anyone looking for a unique take on the May 1 vandalism by anarchists trying to stop gentrification in North Philadelphia might turn to the blog Philly Anti-Capitalist.

"Lots of people said they went harder than they ever had," an anonymous poster wrote there a few days after the incident. "At least four large condos both finished and unfinished were smashed up so bad that it felt like a competition to get a swing in. People described feeling terrified and thrilled."

The thrill apparently came as a masked group of 40 to 50 raced up the 1500 block of North Second Street, shattering windows, damaging cars, and spray painting new construction -- in all, more than $100,000 in damage.

Philly Anti-Capitalist posts from time to time similar accounts – some anonymous --  of anarchist and antifascist activities in the area. (Most are recaps of mainstream protests, not purported insider accounts of organized vandalism.)  The blog is one of a small constellation of online spaces for anarchists in Philadelphia, and the account published last week – which offered no proof its author had been in North Philly that night – is one of the few public responses that have emerged from the local anarchist community since the incident.

Online, supporters of the two charged in the vandalism -- Geoffrey Suchocki, 45, and Patricia Monahan, 28, who allegedly targeted high-end cars and new construction  – have raised bail money and offered solidarity.

"This person has put so much work into their community, and it is time for us to rally together and support them," the description for the bail fund-raiser read.

They've analyzed the efficacy of the "demo," as the post on Philly Anti-Capitalist put it.

"Organizers regret not having distributed a legal support number that had been set up in advance of the demo," the anonymous poster wrote. "Due to technological and communication failures, as well as unforeseen circumstances, two intended targets were not hit." The poster wrote of "neighbors quick to snitch," including one who tackled someone in the group and then released this person after another one "intimidated them with a hammer."

The blog's publisher didn't respond to a request for comment. Neither did the Philadelphia Anti-Repression Fund, which raised nearly $3,000 in bail money for Suchocki and Monahan. (That's not unusual: "Don't talk to media or pigs," read the event description for one anarchist-organized May Day protest.)

At the Wooden Shoe bookstore, a fixture on South Street run by an anarchist collective, volunteer Carl Craft said from behind the counter that he hadn't heard much discussion of the incident in Northern Liberties. But he said gentrification and displacement have long been targets of protest in the anarchist movement.

"It's not unique to Philadelphia," he said, adding that he spoke for himself and not the collective. "And there's the issue of how to respond to it – my personal opinion is that if there's neighborhood opposition [to development], then those are the people who should lead the response." Suchocki is from Doylestown and Monahan from Rhawnhurst.

Police are still investigating the incident, Inspector Dennis Wilson said this week. The incident was similar to vandalism on South Street on the day of President Trump's inauguration, he said, but it's unclear whether they're connected.

Police photographed the two at protests earlier that day in Center City, he said, but it's also unclear whether Suchocki and Monahan belong to an organized group. Anarchist groups don't often come into contact with the department, he said: "It's here and there. They'll join these larger protests sometimes, and that's what they did" on May Day.

Some anarchists worry that acts of vandalism will alienate the public, an anonymous author wrote in an "anarchist response to the attacks in Philly," provided to the Inquirer and Daily News by writers at Anathema Magazine, a local anarchist publication. (The piece was later published on It's Going Down, a national anarchist news site.) But others believe it's the only way to stop "the violence of everyday life in the U.S.," the author wrote.

"In Philadelphia, we're more used to seeing anarchists doing support work or lobbying for reforms than attacking institutions or businesses they believe shouldn't exist," the author wrote. "While attending community meetings with developers and politicians has accomplished nothing, and forming nonviolent community organizations against gentrification has done very little to stop it, vandalism has successfully demoralized and deterred development in many areas of the city."

The incident on May Day isn't "above critique," the author wrote. "But to condemn them and those involved … in the name of hypothetical concerns about public opinion puts you on the side of defending and replicating a violent social order."