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Active Club Network

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Active Club Network
FounderRobert Rundo
Foundation2021
CountryUnited States, Europe, Canada, Australia
HeadquartersCalifornia[1]
Ontario[2]
Ideology
Allies

The Active Club Network are decentralized cells of white supremacy and neo-Nazi groups active in many U.S. states, with multiple chapters in other nations. Largely inspired by the defunct street-fighting Rise Above Movement formed by Robert Rundo in 2017 and hooliganism, the network was created in January 2021 and promotes mixed martial arts to fight against what it asserts is a system that is targeting the white race, as well as a "warrior spirit" to prepare for a forthcoming race war. Some extremism researchers have characterized the network as a "shadow or stand-by army" which could be activated for coordinated violence.[9][10][11][12] The English branch was involved in organising the 2024 United Kingdom riots.[13]

Origins

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The origin of the network has been traced to Robert Rundo, who formed the Rise Above Movement in Southern California in 2017. Facing federal rioting charges in the United States, Rundo left for southeastern Europe to promote the movement. He has described his goal as creating "White Nationalism 3.0" and envisioned a decentralized cell network that would be difficult for researchers and law enforcement to track.[7] He created an online messaging and merchandising organization to encourage communications with other white supremacist groups, such as Patriot Front.[14][15][16]

Rundo was extradited from Romania to face charges in the United States in August 2023. His supporters have held "Free Rundo" demonstrations in several countries, including Russia, Sweden, and Canada.[17][18]

Description

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The network adheres to the Great Replacement and white genocide conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories which are based on the belief that elites, Jews and the mainstream media are jointly engaging in a global conspiracy to replace the white population of the world with non-white immigrants.[19]

According to Vice and The Guardian, members of the terrorist group Atomwaffen Division are active "and play key roles" in organizing the Active Club Network.[20][21] Leading member of Atomwaffen's Canadian branch and Order of Nine Angles, Patrick Gordon Macdonald, who has been charged with terrorism offenses, was allegedly also a member of Canadian Active Club.[22][23] Kristoffer Nippak, another founding member of the Northern Order who also has been charged with terrorism offenses, is also a member of the Active Club.[24] According to the director of the University of New Brunswick’s Criminology and Criminal Justice Program, David Hofmann, Atomwaffen is using Active Clubs as a cover for organizing where they have been outlawed as a terrorist group.[8] Further, Active Club Finland trains Karelian separatists that the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev characterized as a terrorist group.[5][25] New Jersey man Andrew Takhistov who took part in Active Club "Free Rundo" demonstration is charged with plotting an attack on energy infrastructure and synagogues. Takhistov also stated that he was involved in the production of Terrorgram propaganda and planned to join the Russian Volunteer Corps.[26]

The Guardian reported in August 2023 that some in the Clockwork Crew, a cell of about one dozen members in Long Beach, California, were serving or had served in the United States military. One cell member was expelled from the Marines after he and five others were caught "stealing more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition and several grenades from a weapons depot at Camp Pendleton" in 2021. A Clockwork Crew co-founder was court-martialed, sentenced to eleven months in the brig and given a bad conduct discharge for violating the Marine Corps's ban on the advocacy of extremist ideologies.[20]

In September 2023, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) characterized the network as a transnational movement which seeks to create a "shadow or stand-by army" that can mobilize itself for the purpose of launching "coordinated, large-scale" violent attacks. A CEP study revealed that the network adhered to a strategy of "hiding in plain sight" by showing a "friendly face" to recruit young white men for fitness, sports and martial arts.[27][28]

Expansion

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Alexander Ritzmann, the author of the 2023 CEP study, stated "I've never seen a network in right-wing extremism grow so fast. Usually it takes years to build a transnational network."[28]

As of August 2023, the Anti-Defamation League found that Active Clubs have claimed to be present in at least 33 U.S. states. Active Clubs have also been formed in Lithuania, France, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, and Croatia.[29][30]

In April 2022, a branch of the Active Club was established in France, initially in Normandy. In 2024, Libération reported that it had around 20 local chapters[31] and StreetPress [fr] reported that it had about a hundred members.[32] Its logo features a knight's helmet on a fleur-de-lis and Celtic cross background. The organization maintains links with other French far-right groups such as Action Française and Groupe Union Défense.[33] It brings together nationalist-revolutionaries [fr], identitarians and royalists.[31] According to the Counter Extremism Project, France is one of the countries outside North America where these groups are most active.[30][34] The movement's French Telegram channel, created in 2022, has over 11,000 subscribers.[32]

Its members took part in several violent actions, including a racially-motivated raid in Romans-sur-Isère (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), anti-immigration demonstrations in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (Pays de la Loire), and clashes with left-wing activists in Montpellier during the 2024 farmers' protests.[31] In Saint-Brieuc, in November 2023, three white supremacists planning to create an Active Club attacked an alternative venue and were sentenced to between 12 and 24 months in prison. In Mâcon, in April 2024, Active Club members attacked a person after a concert at an association venue; one was sentenced to 12 months under an electronic bracelet, the other to two years in prison.[32]

In May 2023, Active Club Scotland (ACS) posted its first video. Members of the group have made bomb threats and marched with National Action, a banned neo-Nazi terrorist organisation, and some members have links to Patriotic Alternative. There are also other groups in the UK drawing on elements of the international Active Club movement. ACS often sends messages using the white supremacist slogan 14 Words on its Telegram channel. [35]

In Finland, local groups operate at least in the Uusimaa and Päijät-Häme regions and Oulu, Turku, Tampere, and Kokkola as of May 2024.[36][37]

In August 2024, it was reported that Australia had an Active Club Network. Known neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell leads a group in South Australia known as Croweater.[a] Sewell was suspended from X in July 2024, but the Croweater page remains, featuring a photo of masked members carrying a banner reading "Australia for the white man". However the clubs are not well-established in Australia.[39]

A BBC investigation found that Active Club UK Telegram channels had more than 6,000 subscribers. These channels contained celebration of Hitler's birthday and images of members wearing Waffen-SS t-shirts. They offered guidance on how to avoid police detection during the 2024 riots which followed the Southport stabbings.[13]

An undercover ITV investigation infiltrated the London branch, and was able to secretly record video of the members during their training sessions and group socialisation. They were filmed discussing how they would acquire weapons, making racist jokes and posing with Nazi salutes, which they refer to as "Romans". Some of the members were from Ukraine, Romania, Spain and Italy.[40][41]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Croweater is a popular Australian demonym for South Australian people.[38]

References

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  1. ^ "This 'Violence-Ready' Militia Is Hiding in Plain Sight". Rolling Stone. October 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "Underground neo-Nazi street gang quietly running whites-only workout clubs from coast to coast". Canadian Anti-Hate Network. October 8, 2023.
  3. ^ "Dangerous Organizations and Bad Actors: The Patriot Front". Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. December 9, 2023. Given the Active Club network's overt accelerationism and likely desire to engage in violence, it is concerning that PF has aligned itself and trained alongside these Active Clubs.
  4. ^ "The Right Fit: How Active Club Propaganda Attracts Women to the Far-Right". Global Network on Extremism and Technology. December 9, 2023. Individual far-right Active Clubs exist as part of a decentralised network of groups that conduct mental and physical combat training while promoting white supremacist, neofascist, and accelerationist ideologies.
  5. ^ a b Jääskeläinen, Petri (December 2, 2023). "Toimivatko Active Club -kamppailukerhot porttina äärioikeistojärjestöihin? – Osa jäsenistä saattaa valmistautua itsenäisyyspäivänä väkivaltaisuuksiin". Seura (in Finnish). Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  6. ^ "RUSSIAN MILITIA HAS LINKS TO AMERICAN NEO-NAZI AND ANTI-TRANS FIGURES". The Intercept. October 8, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Active Club Network". Anti-Defamation League.
  8. ^ a b "2 Ontario men accused of belonging to neo-Nazi terrorism group". Global News. "Their way around getting on this terror watch list is, 'oh, we're no longer Atomwaffen, we're Active Club Canada. Meanwhile, they continue doing what they're doing and hoping that, you know, they can get out of this legal loophole with this rebranding," Hofmann said.
  9. ^ Yousef, Odette (July 19, 2023). "'Active club' hate groups are growing in the U.S. — and making themselves seen". National Public Radio.
  10. ^ "Active Club Network". Anti-Defamation League.
  11. ^ Morgan Moon; Jon Lewis (September 1, 2023). "Amid Robert Rundo's Extradition, the White Supremacist Active Clubs Network Remains a Threat". Just Security.
  12. ^ "Hiding in Plain Sight – The Transnational Right-Wing Extremist Active Club Network". Counter Extremism Project. September 22, 2023.
  13. ^ a b O'Donoghue, Daniel (October 1, 2024). "Far-right group using sports to 'build militia', experts warn". BBC News. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  14. ^ Yousef, Odette (July 19, 2023). "'Active club' hate groups are growing in the U.S. — and making themselves seen". National Public Radio.
  15. ^ Morgan Moon; Jon Lewis (September 1, 2023). "Amid Robert Rundo's Extradition, the White Supremacist Active Clubs Network Remains a Threat". Just Security.
  16. ^ "Hiding in Plain Sight – The Transnational Right-Wing Extremist Active Club Network". Counter Extremism Project. September 22, 2023.
  17. ^ Morgan Moon; Jon Lewis (September 1, 2023). "Amid Robert Rundo's Extradition, the White Supremacist Active Clubs Network Remains a Threat". Just Security.
  18. ^ Winston, Ali (August 2, 2023). "White supremacist Robert Rundo extradited from Romania to US to face charges". The Guardian.
  19. ^ "Dangerous Organizations and Bad Actors: The Active Club Network". Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism. March 15, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Winston, Ali (August 14, 2023). "Revealed: neo-Nazi active club counts several of US military as members". The Guardian. Liel has claimed he was once affiliated with the Atomwaffen Division
  21. ^ Mack Lamoureux (October 8, 2023). "Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs Are Fat-Shaming Men Into White Nationalism". Vice News. Other sources told VICE News that former members of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen, which has been designated as a terrorist organization in Canada, are playing key roles in organizing active clubs north of the border.
  22. ^ "'A New Image of Terror and Dread': The Significance Of Dark Foreigner's Arrest". Global network on extremism and technology. August 12, 2024.
  23. ^ "Canadian Police Just Arrested Influential Neo-Nazi 'Dark Foreigner'". Vice News. October 8, 2023. Sources indicated to VICE News that he remained active with the extreme right after he was identified. Earlier this year, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network published an article alleging that he was a member of a Canadian Active Club, a neo-Nazi fitness group.
  24. ^ "Meet the 'Entrepreneur of Hate' Behind the Rise Of Canadian Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs". Vice News. December 1, 2023.
  25. ^ Kauppinen, Ina (August 2, 2023). "Putinin "oikea käsi" esitti vakavan syytöksen Suomea kohtaan – "Tietoinen hyökkäävä kurssi maatamme kohtaan on jälleen otettu"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  26. ^ "'Terrorgram' Charges Show US Has Had Tools to Crack Down on Far-Right Terrorism All Along". Wired. September 14, 2024.
  27. ^ Alexander Ritzmann (September 22, 2023). "Hiding in Plain Sight – The Transnational Right-Wing Extremist Active Club Network". Counter Extremism Project.
  28. ^ a b Woodward, Alex (September 26, 2023). "How white supremacist fight clubs are building covert far-right militias". The Independent.
  29. ^ Morgan Moon; Jon Lewis (September 1, 2023). "Amid Robert Rundo's Extradition, the White Supremacist Active Clubs Network Remains a Threat". Just Security.
  30. ^ a b Mack Lamoureux (October 8, 2023). "Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs Are Growing Rapidly, New Research Shows". Vice News.
  31. ^ a b c Macé, Maxime; Plottu, Pierre (March 30, 2024). "Extrême droite : entre suprémacisme et violence, Active Club France bande les muscles". Libération (in French). Retrieved February 16, 2025.
  32. ^ a b c Garnier, Christophe-Cécil (December 5, 2024). "Les Active clubs, fight clubs néonazis importés des USA". StreetPress (in French). Retrieved February 16, 2025.
  33. ^ Macé, Maxime; Plottu, Pierre (January 31, 2023). "MMA, totenkopf et militantes sexy… Le violent combo du «fight club» nazi". Libération (in French). Retrieved February 16, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. ^ Beurnez, Victoria (October 20, 2023). "Des vidéos de suprémacistes blancs font des millions de vues sur Tiktok, qui essaie de les supprimer". BFM TV (in French). Retrieved February 16, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  35. ^ "STATE OF HATE 2024 Investigation: Fascist Fight Clubs". HOPE not hate. March 21, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  36. ^ Kerkelä, Lasse; Nieminen, Teemu (December 2, 2023). "Somejulkaisut paljastavat: Näin uusi äärioikeistolainen ryhmä levittäytyy Suomeen". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  37. ^ "Extremist Content Online: White Supremacists Celebrate Anniversary Of Buffalo Terror Attack on Social Media". Counter Extremism Project. May 22, 2024.
  38. ^ Richards, Kel. "Wordwatch: Croweater". ABC NewsRadio. Archived from the original on September 15, 2005. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  39. ^ Jeuniewic, Lexie (August 3, 2024). "Active Clubs and white supremacy groups targeting young men a 'threat to social cohesion' in Australia". ABC News. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  40. ^ Kachroo, Rohit (February 12, 2025). "Inside Britain's fascist fight club: Secret footage shows far-right group preparing for 'race war'". ITV News. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  41. ^ "Active Club England: How ITV News secretly recorded and infiltrated a fascist far-right fight club". ITV News. February 12, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
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