Millcreek Tavern, located at 42nd and Chester, was sprayed with graffiti overnight on January 1, according to reports. A few windows were also broken. Owner Jack Gillespie told the Washington Examiner that the damage was estimated at approximately $20,000.
The graffiti reads “FCK Piss Boys” and the vandalism is likely related to the backlash the restaurant received after a November incident when the management was accused allowing the Proud Boys, a right-wing group, to have a gathering at the restaurant, reportedly for recruitment purposes. The owner, however, denied that any recruitment was going on at the restaurant and also said that he believed it was members of a different group, Turning Point USA, who gathered at his restaurant, according to his post on Millcreek Tavern’s Facebook page.
Gillespie believes local Antifa members are responsible for the vandalism, which has occurred for the second time since the November incident.
January 3rd, 2020 at 4:30 pm
Whatever one thinks of the proud boys or whoever was at the tavern, we still live in a country with freedom of speech. However if it was Antifa they are the most blatant, fascist cowards of our day, graffiti in the dark of night and covering their faces whenever they protest. If it wasn’t Antifa the above is still true.
January 3rd, 2020 at 5:05 pm
Oh please. Freedom of speech involves protection against government incursion. There is no state actiin here. So this “analysis” doesn’t fly.
Second, there isn’t proof of “Antifa.” There are plenty of people opposed to fascistic, Hate Group activities in Philly.
Third, trying to call anti-fascists, “fascists” is really just outing oneself as a fascist.
Last, no, your other claims are not true.
Why don’t you unmask your self of one or more of the Facebook community groups discussing this matter? I bet you don’t want to do so because you’d be schooled.
January 3rd, 2020 at 6:16 pm
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent!” Isaac Asimov
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:14 pm
Wow, those children are so so “woke” they destroyed someone property.
January 4th, 2020 at 8:37 pm
It was this group. They admitted to doing it right on their Philly Anticap blog. Violent Idiots.
idk if the link works but here it is.
https://phlanticap.noblogs.org/new-years-eve-reportback/?fbclid=IwAR30CqtORhY-S7DGGc4atla5fFw0wVb8y1dOPo3fwzH2LSthTm6dnBB5_gw
January 4th, 2020 at 11:11 pm
Hmm. Those that equate property destruction with violence should probably have much stronger words for what the Proud Boys and their ilk do.
Anyway, it does not appear that “A weary, happy, gay anarchist crew” is synonymous with that or any blog- just that it was a tagline to an anonymous submission. So maybe read- and think- a bit more carefully next time?
January 8th, 2020 at 4:25 pm
This dram shop has security cameras and hopefully one of the other buildings at that intersection do too. My guess is cameras do exist where the help call box is, which is also located at that intersection. So yeah, we can let the footage determine who was responsible or we can just continue throwing out baseless accusations.
That internet link or whatever that was is laughably tenuous, dubious at best. I’ve seen more convincing headlines in the Weekly World News. I guess people drop their BS detectors when the BS serves to help them.
The owner is a dyed in the wool conservative. Yeah, I’ve heard him go on a tear during some of his ‘colorful’ soliloquies, some that would make Pat Buchanan blush, especially during the last election cycle or if Fox News is got him rile(y)d up. Nevertheless (caution, important message and crux of my rant to follow…) breaking the windows of the Mill Creek Tavern is stupid and irresponsible and unjustified. The better solution to settle differences would be to simply not patronize his dram shop. If he is on his high horse, I prefer just to finish my drink, mind my own business, act like a human being, maybe wave and then leave. It appears that most have taken that approach. The place is empty. This place has hosted some pretty fantastic anarcho punk and metal bands over the years (Grief, Drop Dead, Cress, etc.) The owner is allowed to be a dyed in the wool conservative. He is allowed his political views same as anyone else, even those bored enough to read this far into my comment. If he is the one responsible for the vandalism in order to take he upper hand in some unimportant beef with an anti-racist group, that is also stupid. No matter who did it, the act is criminal. Let the cameras show us.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:08 pm
TPUSA and anti-Semitic metal bands are almost as bad as Proud Boys. Certainly they are in the same league.
The owner doesn’t seem to care all that much about hiding his political sensibilities. It’s not the kind of business I would patronize, that’s for sure.
January 10th, 2020 at 7:45 pm
So, is the owner supposed to screen every patron’s political background? He is in the business of selling beer. People get too tied up in all this political BS. Everyone does not agree with your politics. Did this group visiting the bar for a few beers do anything illegal? I haven’t read anything stating so. Do we need background checks now to go out for a few beers?
If you don’t like the clientele, you are free to drink somewhere else. This is America, right?
Why does the Southern Poverty Law Center get to define everything for everyone? What makes their opinion better than everyone else?
January 10th, 2020 at 11:07 pm
There’s a price to collaborating with fascists. Bravo. F*** free speech for Nazis. Get real folks.
January 10th, 2020 at 11:43 pm
The Proud Boys are a dangerous gang of far right bullies. It should not be even slightly surprising that they would be unwelcome in our neighborhood.
January 12th, 2020 at 3:14 pm
Honestly the owner is just chasing the buck. He lets anyone in. Not news. Anyone with a wallet. I mean come on. He may be racist (who really knows but him) but the point remains that he lets ANYONE into his bar. If you don’t like that policy, he’ll still let you in…but maybe you should try to find a bar, restaurant, coffee shop, etc. that doesn’t let everyone in, like the racist Starbucks in Rittenhouse.
Which one is worse?
January 12th, 2020 at 4:00 pm
The owner really does have far right sympathies, from everything I hear. One good response is to boycott him. Since the building is apparently sold, the quicker he vacates, the less chance there is of more reactionary activity.
January 14th, 2020 at 12:15 pm
“from everything I hear”
There you go folks. He/she read it somewhere, so now it’s reality.
January 14th, 2020 at 1:25 pm
The guy’s a right winger, that is clear. The things he said when he went squawking to the reactionary media makes that obvious.
January 14th, 2020 at 1:30 pm
Gwen, a neighbor who has been severely targeted by the Proud Boys has good advice for those who want to fight back against the reactionaries. Her article is entitled: Beyond Hashtags 7 Steps for Fighting the Alt-Right.
January 14th, 2020 at 2:24 pm
You can find it here: https://www.google.com/search?q=Beyond+Hashtags+7+Steps+for+Fighting+the+Alt-Right+Gwen+Snyder&rlz=1CAJPEZ_enUS855&oq=Beyond+Hashtags+7+Steps+for+Fighting+the+Alt-Right+Gwen+Snyder
January 14th, 2020 at 6:10 pm
Oh you sweet summer child. Thankfully your hovel at 52nd and Haverford will soon be razed.
January 14th, 2020 at 7:32 pm
Everybody knows that 330 Philadelphia Police officers were identified for their bigoted, far right beliefs- and that was only the tip of the iceberg.
So where is anti-fascist power going to come from? Clearly from outside and beyond the racist, corrupt cops who serve the powers that be…
January 15th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Speaking objectively and not intending to make fun as I have kids myself, it seems like the Proud Boys fraternity is attempting to cope with mommy issues. They say ‘proud of your boy’ a lot. I am sorry if I offended anyone on this thread.
January 15th, 2020 at 1:25 pm
I’m sure the original Nazis had lots and lots of psychological issues. This didn’t make them one iota less dangerous however…
January 17th, 2020 at 12:52 pm
The Philly cops who post reactionary propaganda are significant. Fortunately, the database which identified at least 328 active duty police officers here in Philly is available to all and is even searchable by badge number: https://www.plainviewproject.org/data
The hatred and violence conveyed may be highly upsetting- as well it should be.