Mayoral Race 2021 Tony Moreno, Democrat turned Republican

“I unequivocally, without hesitancy, denounce white supremacy, their organizations, their motivations and their hateful messages,” said Moreno. “I am Hispanic and Native American and a minority, so I have no tolerance for hate in any form and will not associate or work with groups who support white nationalism.”

Moreno, who originally ran for mayor as a Democrat, came under scrutiny for past comments he had made on social media in support of former President Donald Trump.

On Aug. 12, several members of the Iron City Citizens Response Unit (IC CRU) attended a campaign fundraiser event for Moreno at Le Mont restaurant in Mount Washington. One IC CRU member posted on Facebook that he was at the event and included the #RealSteel when checking in on social media.

Moreno’s website is realsteelmayor.com. In a caption on a Facebook photo of IC CRU members at Le Mont, Wakulik wrote that IC CRU “has been asked to assist in protective service for certain high profile individuals in the city of Pittsburgh” and then went on to write that “the communist Marxist faction within our perimeter is strong and they reside in high positions within the corrupt governments of the county and city.”

“Last night, about 100 people attended a campaign fundraiser at the LeMont in Mt. Washington, including a handful of members of the IC CRU,” said Moreno. “Everyone who was at my event last night was asked to attend for one purpose, and one purpose only — to support my campaign for Pittsburgh mayor, not to provide any protective services.”

In summer 2020, IC CRU was hired by a gym owner in Ambridge, out of fears that a small Black Lives Matter march in Aliquippa would make its way miles across the Ohio River to Ambridge and damage a small gym on Merchant Street in the Beaver County borough, according to the Beaver Countian. IC CRU even posted up on the roof of the building, waiting for civil-rights marchers that never came.

IC CRU and Wakulik are advertised to attend an “Red, White & Blue Freedom Cruise” event on Sun., Aug. 22, which includes a boat parade and rally at Tequila Cowboy bar in the North Side. The owners of Tequila Cowboy have donated to Moreno’s campaign, according to filings. Other attendees advertised on the boat parade flyer, which includes the IC CRU symbol and Valknot, are Moreno, Republican Court of Common Pleas candidate Joseph Patrick Murphy, Republican Lt. Gov. candidate Rick Saconne, and others.