February 22, 2025

Idavox

The Media Outlet of One People's Project

Steve & the Chocolate Factory; No Action Taken Against Neo-Nazi Employee – Yet

Life is like a box of chocolates. If just one piece is poisoned you get rid of it.

DUNMORE, Pa – Chocolate candy company Gertrude Hawk has not commented any further than a standard message regarding a neo-Nazi who is also a Republican committeeman that currently works in their factory.

“Thank you for contacting us. Your message was received and it has been passed along and will be looked into,”ย  the statement reads in response a week ago to a Facebook comment regarding their employeeย Steve Smith, one of the founders of the neo-Nazi crew Keystone United. “At this time, we will not be commenting further on social media. Any additional feedback can be directed to 1-800-822-2032, thank you.”

The statement was prompted by a number of calls and messages the company received regarding Smith, who works as a forklift operator in their Dunmore facility, after Antifa Philadelphia published an article about him as part of a series of articles that spotlight Keystone United, which was founded by Smith and others in 2001 as Keystone State “Skinheads”. The article also notes that in addition to being a former Klansman and onetime associates of Aryan Nations and former Klansman David Duke, Smith is currently serving his second term as a committeeman for the Luzerne County Republican Party. He first won the election in 2012, one year after he foundedย Smith co-founded the European American Action Coalition (EAAC), an organization โ€œfounded in the fall of 2011 by a few well known White activists,โ€ that โ€œadvocates on behalf of White Americans,โ€ according to the groupโ€™s Facebook account. Smith is also a member of theย White supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens.

According to one report, Keystone United has been flagged by the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium for its โ€œincreasingly violentโ€ activities, one of those incidents committed my Smith himself in 2003, when we wasย arrested and served 30 days in jail for attempting to assault a Black man.

Efforts to persuade Gertrude Hawk, a family business founded in 1936, still continue. In 2008, a news article noted that Keystone United had a PO Box in Dunmore.


25 Years of Hate Having Consequences !

2025 is a milestone year and we want to give a huge THANK YOU to all of our supporters who have been in the trenches with us for the past 25 years. A lot of groups and people we have dealt with since we started are long gone: Richard Barrett, Matt Hale, the Minutemen and others! But we are still here fighting the good fight, contending with the new generation's version of hate politics. There are trying times ahead, but we believe our reality would be even worse if we did not come together to do this work. If you value the research and reporting that we have done at One Peopleโ€™s Project and Idavox- and you want to see it continue- we hope you will consider helping to keep our mission fired up.

One People's Project is a 501 (c)(3) organization. All donations are tax-deductible. EIN: 47-2026442


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