Panzerfaust Records

Panzerfaust Records was a Minnesota-based white power record label founded in September 1998. Named after a German anti-tank weapon,[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]

Panzerfaust Records
Founded1998 (1998)
Founder
  • Anthony Pierpont
  • Ed Wolbank
  • Eric Davidson
StatusDefunct in 2005
GenreRock Against Communism
Country of originUnited States
LocationMinnesota

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][13] and the emergence of evidence that Pierpont was of Hispanic descent and had dated transgender individuals and women outside the White race.[4][14][15] 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.[16]

As of January 27, 2005, the Panzerfaust Web site was no longer operating.[17]

See also

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. Horwich, Jeff. (May 13, 2004). Top "white power" music label prospers from Twin Cities home base, Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  3. Simi, Pete; Futrell, Robert. (2010). American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, ISBN 9781442202108. p80.
  4. 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. Funk, Michael (19 March 2005). "Sex, Drugs, Hate Rock". Telepolis (in German). Heinz Heise. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  12. "Co-owner of white power record label arrested on drug charge" (December 1, 2004). Associated Press.
  13. Padilla, Howie. (February 18, 2005). "Drug arrest killed hate-music business, owner says". Star Tribune, Minneapolis.
  14. Raihala, Ross. (February 4, 2005). "White-supremacy record label closes after owner is accused of being Hispanic". Knight Ridder Tribune News Service, Washington.
  15. O'Hara, Carolyn. (November 14, 2005). "From Prussia with hate". New Statesman, 18.885. pp 38-39.
  16. Zaitchik, Alexander. (2006). "Former Hate Rocker Anthony Pierpont Targets Old Colleagues In New Project", Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center, No. 124.
  17. "Panzerfaust Records: Distributor of Hate Music", Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
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