Panzerfaust Records

Panzerfaust Records
Founded 1998 (1998)
Founder
  • Anthony Pierpont
  • Ed Wolbank
  • Eric Davidson
Status Defunct
Genre Rock Against Communism
Country of origin United States
Location Minnesota

Panzerfaust Records was a Minnesota-based white power record label founded in September 1998. Named after a German anti-tank rocket,[1] the record label distributed the music of white power bands and organized concerts across the United States.[2] At the label's peak around 2000, it was the main competitor of Resistance Records,[2] and they had grown close to the neo-Nazi group White Revolution.[3]

History

Panzerfaust Records was founded in 1998 by Anthony Pierpont, Ed Wolbank and Eric Davidson.[4][3] The organization had ties to a number of other groups, including Hammerskin Nation,[2] the "largest [US] skinhead group",[5] Volksfront and White Revolution.[3] In 2003 Bryant Cecchini, aka Byron Calvert, joined the company.[2]

In 2004, the label launched Project Schoolyard, a United States-wide campaign to distribute free Panzerfaust sampler CDs to middle school and high school students.[6] In response, schools were notified and in some districts CDs were confiscated or voluntarily turned over by students,[7][8][9] and the anti-fascist record label Insurgence Records responded by offering a free downloadable compilation called Project Boneyard.[10]

Panzerfaust Records shut down in early 2005 after the arrest of Pierpont for drug possession upon returning from a sex tourism trip to Thailand,[11][12] and the emergence of evidence that Pierpont was of hispanic descent and had dated transgender individuals and women outside the White race.[4][13][14] The company was reorganized without Pierpont to become "Free Your Mind Productions" but disbanded for good shortly after.[3] Pierpont has since supposedly moved away from racism and the white power movement.[15]

As of January 27, 2005, the Panzerfaust Web site was no longer operating.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Mackay, Neil. (January 22, 2006). "OMM: White off the scale: They're loud, proud and everywhere from East Germany to West Virginia". The Observer, London, England.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Horwich, Jeff. (May 13, 2004). Top "white power" music label prospers from Twin Cities home base, Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Simi, Pete; Futrell, Robert. (2010). American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, ISBN 9781442202108. p80.
  4. 1 2 Etter, G.W. (2009). "Hip-Hop, Narcocorrido, and Neo-Nazi Hate Rock: A Comparison of Alienated Criminal Groups", Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies, no. 9, pp. 98-112.
  5. ↑ Foxman, Abraham; Wolf, Christopher. (2013). Viral Hate: Containing Its Spread on the Internet, Macmillan. ISBN 9781137356222.
  6. ↑ Guarino, Mark. (August 7, 2012). "Wisconsin shooting: how racist bands recruit for white supremacists". The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, MA.
  7. ↑ Hurst, Marianne D. (October 6, 2004). "Neo-Nazi Group Targeting Schools for Music Distribution". Education Week, 24.6.
  8. ↑ Kaufman, Paula, (10 December 2004). "Boone teens prove too smart for racist group Panzerfaust". The Charleston Gazette.
  9. ↑ "Racist CDs distributed, confiscated at Madison middle, high schools". (24 October 2004). The Associated Press.
  10. ↑ Project Boneyard USA: a battle for hearts and minds. | Article from Canadian Dimension | HighBeam Research
  11. ↑ "Co-owner of white power record label arrested on drug charge" (December 1, 2004). Associated Press.
  12. ↑ Padilla, Howie. (February 18, 2005). "Drug arrest killed hate-music business, owner says". Star Tribune, Minneapolis.
  13. ↑ Raihala, Ross. (February 4, 2005). "White-supremacy record label closes after owner is accused of being Hispanic". Knight Ridder Tribune News Service, Washington.
  14. ↑ O'Hara, Carolyn. (November 14, 2005). "From Prussia with hate". New Statesman, 18.885. pp 38-39.
  15. ↑ Zaitchik, Alexander. (2006). "Former Hate Rocker Anthony Pierpont Targets Old Colleagues In New Project", Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center, No. 124.
  16. ↑ "Panzerfaust Records: Distributor of Hate Music", Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved May 30, 2014.

See also

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