Active Club Network
Decentralized cells of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Active Club Network are decentralized cells of white supremacist 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]
| Active Club Network | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Robert Rundo |
| Foundation | 2021 |
| Country | United States, Finland, Estonia, Russia, France and other European countries as well as Canada and Australia |
| Headquarters | California[1] Ontario[2] |
| Ideology | |
| Allies | |
Origins
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
Summarize
Perspective
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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Perspective
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[update], 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 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, 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] Active Club Finland took part in the 2024 Independence Day march commemorating the SS organized by neo-Nazis and the far-right Finns Party. Active Club members assaulted leftist counterdemonstrators and stole and burned their flags and signs.[38][39][40]
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.[42]
Active Club England has at least 100 members and 8 chapters.[43] 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] Active Club England was able to recruit many new members after the riots.[44] One member, Jay Barlow (calling himself "Glenn") had previously been jailed for a knife attack in a supermarket. He joined the group just weeks after being sentenced for other offences, while still under probation and attending a mandatory "thinking skills" programme.[44] Neil Basu, former head of UK counterterrorism policing, described Active Club England as the successor to National Action, a neo-Nazi group founded in 2013 that was banned in 2016 after celebrating the murder of MP Jo Cox by a white supremacist.[44]
An undercover ITV investigation infiltrated the London branch, and was able to secretly record video of members during their training sessions and group socialisation. Members were filmed discussing how they would acquire weapons, making racist jokes and posing with Nazi salutes (which they refer to as "Romans").[45] The branch included members from Ukraine, Romania, Spain and Italy.[46] In April, a 28 year old man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.[47]
Footnotes
References
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