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Submission received mid-February 2025
CW for physical and sexual abuse.
Summary
Joe LeVasseur, a Pittsburgh area self-proclaimed anarchist, has engaged in serial physical, sexual, and verbal abuse of romantic partners over several decades. He poses a danger to anyone in a relationship with him.
Physical Description
Joe LeVasseur is 44 years old, 6’5″ tall, lean, about 220lbs, with brown eyes and hair. He often bleaches and dyes his hair, usually green, although sometimes just has brown hair, or is wearing a hat. He has Thor hammer tattoos on each of the backs of his hands, a green dragon tattoo on an upper arm, a cauliflower ear, and a broken nose. His voice is usually very loud. He wears a leather jacket in winter, though not all of the time.
Notes on Physical Danger
Joe LeVasseur is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a former MMA fighter. He owns multiple firearms. He has engaged in dangerous / non consensual choking of partners and other physical abuse.
History of Abuse and Sexual Violations
All names used below other than Joe LeVasseur’s are pseudonyms.
2023-Present, Pittsburgh PA
Morgan, a Pittsburgh comrade, dated Joe LeVasseur for approximately a year. During that time, Joe LeVasseur was emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive toward them. Because this relationship lasted for a longer period, there are many individual instances of abuse that cannot be specifically listed, and the following is a best attempt at a summary.
Morgan reports that Joe LeVasseur wore down their sexual and other boundaries over time. Morgan was freshly out of a different abusive dynamic and was vulnerable at the time. LeVasseur immediately pressured Morgan to allow him to misgender them, to engage in sexual acts that they were hesitant about or uncomfortable with, and to conform to his desires.
After an initial lovebombing period of about a month or so, LeVasseur began to periodically yell and scream around or at Morgan, to hit walls and doors and other things in anger (including a door at his house which he broke with his head), to throw items in anger, drive recklessly in anger, and engage in other ambient physical abuse. LeVasseur repeatedly attacked Morgan’s insecurities and found ways to tear them down on a regular basis.
The abuse escalated to include much more frequent “arguments” that were actually just LeVasseur screaming at his partner, as well as sexual violations and harms. At one point, while Morgan was too intoxicated to indicate discomfort or danger, LeVasseur choked them unconscious three times during sex without consent or checking in. Over time, Joe LeVasseur began to rape Morgan / hurt Morgan physically and emotionally through sex by engaging in violations while the act was already in progress. Physical abuse escalated to shoving / smacking and throwing things closer to them.
Morgan left the relationship after an instance of physical abuse where within the same 24 hour period, Joe LeVasseur kicked them, hard, and then afterwards, threw an approximately 50lb kettle bell at them while coming toward them and screaming.
Morgan attempted to engage Joe LeVasseur in mediation / the beginnings of an accountability process with an anarchist therapist, and these talks went on into Fall 2024. However, Joe ultimately refused to engage, citing that he’d spoken with his mother and she had said he did not have to. Again, he is 44 years old. Joe LeVasseur has remained unrepentant about his actions in this relationship and has begun to malign and spread lies about the survivor locally.
2018-2020, Portland OR
Pittsburgh anarchists got in touch with comrades in Portland. Multiple people had experiences to contribute.
Experience A: A comrade reported that while Joe and Frankie, a partner of his, were being onboarded into an activist crew, Frankie came forward to members of the crew to ask for an accountability process. The accountability process began, and the comrade recalls it being in reference to Joe LeVasseur being controlling, though they do not know many more details. Frankie is disabled and trans, with comrades reporting that they are especially isolated. According to a comrade from Portland, the accountability process fizzled out. According to a survivor in Pittsburgh, Joe LeVasseur appears to still be dating Frankie long-distance.
Experience B: Dana, an anarchist in Portland, dated Joe LeVasseur for a short period of time. Their experiences were shared through a friend (Experience C) as they do not wish to be retraumatized by discussing the abuse. The abuse was largely sexual and Dana reported to their friend that Joe pushed or violated their boundaries repeatedly and fetishized their physical disability.
Experience C: Carson, a comrade in Portland, spoke to us. Carson was out at a bar with Joe LeVasseur. Carson became far more intoxicated than they thought they would based on how much they’d been drinking. Joe LeVasseur offered them a ride home. Instead of taking Carson home, Joe took them back to his place. There was only one bed. He continually pressured Carson about having sex, despite them repeatedly saying ‘no.’ Luckily, Carson believes that Joe did not succeed in raping them that night and that they both just passed out. The next morning, Carson was extremely nauseous and vomiting, describing the hangover as worse than any they’d had before. After reflecting, they realized their experience was consistent with being drugged / roofied. A couple of local comrades who’ve been roofied reported that the sense of being far more intoxicated than should be the case as well as the extreme nausea the next day are consistent with date rape drugs. Joe LeVasseur does use substances such as cocaine and ketamine, often of which he buys from dealers he finds in bars, and it’s not unreasonable to think he could obtain date rape drugs.
2005-2006, possibly earlier, Eastern PA
The writers of this document spoke with a Becca, a female comrade who had been working in the anti-racist action scene when Joe LeVasseur was coming up in the same scene in the mid-2000’s. At the time, the best friend of Joe’s most recent ex-girlfriend Caroline, a high school sweetheart, came to Becca for help because Joe LeVasseur had been physically abusing Caroline. When Becca asked Joe questions about his behavior towards his ex, it did not go smoothly. He began to hurl insults and became extremely angry and then shut down. Around this same time, Joe LeVasseur began his martial arts and combative training. Becca then confronted LeVasseur about the domestic violence, and also his current shitty behaviors towards her as his new sex interest- she did so very publicly at a Tattoo Expo in a major city. After that, we (the authors) think LeVasseur disappeared from anti-racist, anarchist, and activist scenes for a period of years. Becca never heard from or saw LeVasseur again, but did hear from multiple people she was politically working with in 2021 that Joe had moved to Pittsburgh, PA. Joe had made disparaging comments and immediately set about sidelining Becca, despite her being active in the antifascist scene he was attempting to organize in.
Becca recently got back in touch with one of LeVasseur’s ex’s in preparation for this warning. The ex confirmed with her that the most recent descriptions of abuse by others “was consistent with” some of her own past experiences with Joe LeVasseur.
Note: Not much is known about the years between the mid-2000’s and Joe LeVasseur’s time in Portland, OR, except that he owned a house in Providence, RI and was married there. He and his wife separated in the mid 2010’s, and she sadly recently died of suicide. Joe LeVasseur, in speaking of her, claimed she was abusive toward him. He, however, also mentioned instances where he “had to” restrain her or pin her to the floor when she became emotional, which sounds like Joe justifying his abuse toward her. However, nothing about this relationship can be known for sure because we will never be able to speak to her.
History of Organizing Troubles
2021-Present, Pittsburgh PA: Upon moving to Pittsburgh, Joe LeVasseur began to spread false narratives about Becca, the woman who had first confronted him about his abuse back in the mid-2000’s. He called her a narcissist and warned others about working with her. A longtime comrade of Becca’s cut off contact with her as a result of resuming contact with Joe. Others in anti-fascist working groups noted that Joe maligned Becca, and tried to prevent them from working with her. We can only conclude that he was trying to keep her away from his circles in order to hide the truth of his past abuse toward his ex and the confrontation.
Joe LeVasseur has burned out of multiple activist groups in Pittsburgh in his short time here. He becomes angry when others do not listen to or follow his wishes, and cannot sustain any longterm work with a group. His anger issues, poor security practices, and history of dishonesty also make him a liability.
2018-2020, Portland OR: Comrades have reported that Joe LeVasseur joined and left nearly every anarchist activist project in town, following a similar pattern to his in Pittsburgh. While some worked with him for short stints, the general report is that he was not able to work with any group for any significant period of time before he caused conflict and rage-quit.
Closing Thoughts
We put this community warning together because we believe Joe LeVasseur presents a real danger to members of our community. He’s physically harmed and emotionally traumatized people. There were times in which he could have killed someone — he’s just lucky he hasn’t. Joe LeVasseur targets vulnerable people including autistic people, trans people, people significantly younger than him, and people who he perceives of as quiet and isolated. He uses his fighting skills for clout and to establish legitimacy and continues to present as an authority in anarchist and other fighting spaces. He is also prolific. Joe LeVasseur is all over dating apps and IRL scenes, constantly trying to pick people up. He denies that he has caused any harm and instead plays the victim. Joe LeVasseur has demonstrated a pattern of behavior and a lack of remorse that are frightening. We hope this community warning helps to keep people safe and that it allows people to make their own informed decisions about how they interact or not with Joe, now that his history of abuse is out in the sunlight.