The night was one of the most memorable we have had in a long time and to top it all off apparently we pissed some of the haters off! Just another night in the life!

ASBURY PARK, NJ – Trinity Church is a historical Episcopal parish in town who says on their Instagram account that they “are an open, inclusive, diverse, welcoming parish dedicated to radical hospitality and LOVE!” It was only fitting that it wasn’t until after an antifascist punk show ended last Friday evening and everyone was trying to leave that hate decided to give it a go.

Five bands performed that evening: Pain of Truth, End It, Restraining Order, Threat 2 Society and Hold My Own all playing solid sets and just making the entire show a non-stop action-packed event. It didn’t take long for the show to be sold out and there were announcements coming from the stage asking those leaving to let someone at the door know so they can let others in. The Light Brigade Collective, promoters of this particular show, does these kinds of shows every month, and they would feature bands and acts ranging from punk to hip hop to other kinds of independent music and art showcases that raise awareness and build community around racial, economic, LGBTQ+, disability, housing, environmental justice, indigenous feminist, anti-war and other struggles. The shows and events they put on each month help to benefit organizations that deal with finding solutions to those concerns and on Jan. 28, the organization that the show benefitted was One People’s Project.

At approximately 9:15 pm, a blue Honda CRV that reportedly been driving around the area for hours pulled up to the venue and the driver stepped out fully masked, shouted “WLM!” and threw smoke bombs before quickly getting back into his car and driving off. At about 10:15, the CRV returned and this time the person attempted to pepper spray those outside but was unsuccessful and no one was hurt. Later, it was learned that the church’s pride flag down was ripped down from its pole that night, the third time this has happened for the church.

WLM are the initials for White Lives Matter one of the organizations that was responsible for initiating the violence during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Over the past several years the group had been active in New Jersey although doing nothing more that posting their stickers on various lampposts and other areas around the state and in November 2021 was confronted as they attempted to do so in Princeton by a group of antifascists that included One People’s Project members. A week later, three reputed members, Steve V. Koshlyak, Zackerji I. Ivanovic and Claudino G. Petruccelli, were arrested in Somerville while attempting a stickering spree there, but eventually, despite police body camera footage detailing the arrest and showing what kind of stickers they were trying to post, no hate crime charges were filed despite a law placing such activity under the state’s hate crimes statutes.

The following evening, someone attempted to firebomb a synagogue in Bloomfield, NJ, just short of an hour away from Asbury Park. Before the week was done, Nicholas Malindretos, 26, of Clifton was arrested and charged with charged with attempted use of fire to damage and destroy a building, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. He made his first appearance in federal court on Thursday. It is not yet known if the Bloomfield and Asbury Park incidents are related.

In the wake of the Asbury Park incident, no one is undeterred from their missions, not One People’s Project, not the church, who will replace their flag if they haven’t already, and not the Light Brigade Collective. “It is of the utmost importance to all of us that our shows and events at Trinity continue to be a place of safety,” The collective said in a statement in a Instagram post which also noted they will continue to have shows at the church. “No bigotry, violence or hateful behavior of any kind will ever be tolerated or welcomed.”