Active Club Network

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.{{cite news |title=Active Club Network |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/active-club-network}} He created an online messaging and merchandising organization to encourage communications with other white supremacist groups, such as Patriot Front.{{cite news |last1=Yousef |first1=Odette |title='Active club' hate groups are growing in the U.S. — and making themselves seen |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188111769/active-club-hate-groups |publisher=National Public Radio |date=July 19, 2023}}{{cite news |title=Amid Robert Rundo's Extradition, the White Supremacist Active Clubs Network Remains a Threat |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/87970/amid-robert-rundos-extradition-the-white-supremacist-active-clubs-network-remains-a-threat/ |publisher=Just Security |date=September 1, 2023|author1=Morgan Moon|author2=Jon Lewis}}{{cite news |title=Hiding in Plain Sight – The Transnational Right-Wing Extremist Active Club Network |url=https://extremism.gwu.edu/hiding-plain-sight |publisher=Counter Extremism Project |date=September 22, 2023}}

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.{{cite news |title=Amid Robert Rundo's Extradition, the White Supremacist Active Clubs Network Remains a Threat |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/87970/amid-robert-rundos-extradition-the-white-supremacist-active-clubs-network-remains-a-threat/ |publisher=Just Security |date=September 1, 2023|author1=Morgan Moon|author2=Jon Lewis}}{{cite news |last1=Winston |first1=Ali |title=White supremacist Robert Rundo extradited from Romania to US to face charges |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/02/robert-rundo-white-supremacist-extradited-romania-charges-los-angeles |work=The Guardian |date=August 2, 2023}}

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.{{cite news |title=Dangerous Organizations and Bad Actors: The Active Club Network |url=https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/dangerous-organizations-and-bad-actors-active |publisher=Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism |date=March 15, 2023}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/neo-nazi-fight-clubs-robert-rundo-fat-shaming-white-nationalism/|title=Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs Are Fat-Shaming Men Into White Nationalism|work=Vice News|date=8 October 2023|author=Mack Lamoureux|quote=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.}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://gnet-research.org/2023/09/25/the-significance-of-dark-foreigners-arrest/|title='A New Image of Terror and Dread': The Significance Of Dark Foreigner's Arrest|date=12 August 2024|work=Global network on extremism and technology}}{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/dark-foreigner-arrested-canada-terrorism/|quote=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.|title=Canadian Police Just Arrested Influential Neo-Nazi 'Dark Foreigner'|date=8 October 2023|work=Vice News}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-entrepreneur-of-hate-behind-the-rise-of-canadian-neo-nazi-fight-clubs/|title=Meet the 'Entrepreneur of Hate' Behind the Rise Of Canadian Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs|work=Vice News|date=1 December 2023}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/10157791/ontario-terrorism-charges/|title=2 Ontario men accused of belonging to neo-Nazi terrorism group|work=Global News|quote=“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.}} Further, Active Club Finland trains Karelian separatists that the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev characterized as a terrorist group.{{cite web|url=https://seura.fi/asiat/tutkivat/active-club-kamppailukerhot-saattavat-toimia-porttina-aarioikeistojarjestoihin-osa-jasenista-valmistautuu-itsenaisyyspaivana-vakivaltaisuuksiin/|title=Toimivatko Active Club -kamppailukerhot porttina äärioikeistojärjestöihin? – Osa jäsenistä saattaa valmistautua itsenäisyyspäivänä väkivaltaisuuksiin|last=Jääskeläinen|first=Petri|work=Seura|date=2 December 2023|access-date=4 December 2023|language=fi}}{{cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000009757660.html|title=Putinin "oikea käsi" esitti vakavan syytöksen Suomea kohtaan – "Tietoinen hyökkäävä kurssi maatamme kohtaan on jälleen otettu"|last=Kauppinen|first=Ina|work=Ilta-Sanomat|date=2 August 2023|access-date=4 December 2023|language=fi}} 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.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/story/terrorgram-collective-indictments/|title='Terrorgram' Charges Show US Has Had Tools to Crack Down on Far-Right Terrorism All Along|magazine=Wired|date=14 September 2024}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Winston |first1=Ali |title=Revealed: neo-Nazi active club counts several of US military as members |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/14/revealed-neo-nazi-active-club-us-military-members |work=The Guardian |date=August 14, 2023|quote=Liel has claimed he was once affiliated with the Atomwaffen Division}}

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.{{cite news |title=Hiding in Plain Sight – The Transnational Right-Wing Extremist Active Club Network |url=https://extremism.gwu.edu/hiding-plain-sight |publisher=Counter Extremism Project |date=September 22, 2023|author=Alexander Ritzmann}}

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."{{cite news |last1=Woodward |first1=Alex |title=How white supremacist fight clubs are building covert far-right militias |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/active-club-nazi-militia-groups-b2418427.html |work=The Independent |date=September 26, 2023}}

{{As of|2023|August}}, 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.{{cite news |title=Amid Robert Rundo's Extradition, the White Supremacist Active Clubs Network Remains a Threat |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/87970/amid-robert-rundos-extradition-the-white-supremacist-active-clubs-network-remains-a-threat/ |publisher=Just Security |date=September 1, 2023|author1=Morgan Moon|author2=Jon Lewis}}{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/neo-nazi-active-clubs-rising-globally/|title=Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs Are Growing Rapidly, New Research Shows|work=Vice News|date=8 October 2023|author=Mack Lamoureux}}

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{{Cite web |last1=Macé |first1=Maxime |last2=Plottu |first2=Pierre |date=2024-03-30 |title=Extrême droite : entre suprémacisme et violence, Active Club France bande les muscles |url=https://www.liberation.fr/politique/extreme-droite-entre-supremacisme-et-violence-active-club-france-bande-les-muscles-20240330_MSQWXYQ5LBFBXFTKSW24YRQ7GQ/ |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Libération |language=fr}} and {{Interlanguage link|StreetPress|lt=StreetPress|fr|StreetPress}} reported that it had about a hundred members.{{Cite web |last=Garnier |first=Christophe-Cécil |date=2024-12-05 |title=Les Active clubs, fight clubs néonazis importés des USA |url=https://www.streetpress.com/sujet/1733400275-active-clubs-fight-neonazis-importes-usa-supremacistes-blancs-rundo-france-europe |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=StreetPress |language=fr}} 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.{{Cite web |last1=Macé |first1=Maxime |last2=Plottu |first2=Pierre |date=2023-01-31 |title=MMA, totenkopf et militantes sexy… Le violent combo du «fight club» nazi |url=https://www.liberation.fr/politique/mma-totenkopf-et-militantes-sexy-le-violent-combo-du-fight-club-nazi-20230131_A3T653QAENGGFGH4CXBEITQYOA/ |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Libération |language=fr}} It brings together {{Interlanguage link|Nationalist-revolutionary movement|lt=nationalist-revolutionaries|fr|Mouvance nationale-révolutionnaire}}, identitarians and royalists. According to the Counter Extremism Project, France is one of the countries outside North America where these groups are most active.{{Cite web |last=Beurnez |first=Victoria |date=2023-10-20 |title=Des vidéos de suprémacistes blancs font des millions de vues sur Tiktok, qui essaie de les supprimer |url=https://www.bfmtv.com/tech/tiktok/des-videos-de-supremacistes-blancs-font-des-millions-de-vues-sur-tiktok-qui-essaie-de-les-supprimer_AN-202310200430.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=BFM TV |language=fr}} The movement's French Telegram channel, created in 2022, has over 11,000 subscribers.

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. 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.

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. {{cite web |title=STATE OF HATE 2024 Investigation: Fascist Fight Clubs |website=HOPE not hate |date=21 March 2024 |url=https://hopenothate.org.uk/state-of-hate-2024-fight-clubs/ |access-date=5 November 2024}}

In Finland, local groups operate at least in the Uusimaa and Päijät-Häme regions and Oulu, Turku, Tampere, and Kokkola as of May 2024.{{Cite web |title=Somejulkaisut paljastavat: Näin uusi äärioikeistolainen ryhmä levittäytyy Suomeen |last1=Kerkelä |first1=Lasse |last2=Nieminen |first2=Teemu |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=2 December 2023 |access-date=7 December 2023 |url= https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000009980902.html |language=fi }}{{cite web|url=https://www.counterextremism.com/press/extremist-content-online-white-supremacists-celebrate-anniversary-buffalo-terror-attack|title=Extremist Content Online: White Supremacists Celebrate Anniversary Of Buffalo Terror Attack on Social Media|work=Counter Extremism Project|date=22 May 2024}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000010885422.html|title=Tällainen on äärioikeistolainen Active Club Finland|date=11 March 2025|work=Iltasanomat}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/AnnualMarchesGlorifyingNazism_Z105c.pdf|title=On Europe's Streets:Annual Marches Glorifying Nazism|quote=the main organizers and guests of the event have been drawn from either non-party-affiliated far-right-activists or members of the right-wing populist Finns Party (Perussuomalaiset), its youth organization Finns Party Youth (Perussuomalaiset Nuoret)...The 612-march is a torchlight procession from central Helsinki to the Hietaniemi war cemetery, where participants visit the tomb of World War II-era President Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim and the monument to the Finnish SS-Battalion. There are speeches at both the assembly point and at the cemetery, eulogizing the Battle for Helsinki, depicted by speakers as the occasion "when Germans and Finns marched side by side and liberated the city from the communists."|date=25 March 2023|work=B'nai B'rith, Amadeu Antonio Foundation, Federal Foreign Office}}{{cite web|url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/427922/neo-nazis-marching-on-the-streets-in-european-cities-despite-eu-bans|title=Neo-Nazis marching on the streets in European cities despite EU bans|quote=Helsinki, Finland, ‘Towards Freedom’ and ‘612 for freedom’ march’ in memory of the Finnish SS-battalion which fought with Nazi Germany|date=28 March 2023|work=Brussels Times}} Finnish journalists have concluded that Active Club Finland shares members with the fascist Blue-and-Black Movement{{Cite web |date=2025-05-02 |title=Yle selvitti, mitä Tampereen vappurähinöissä oikeasti tapahtui |url=https://yle.fi/a/74-20159301 |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Yle Uutiset |language=fi}}

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.{{efn|"Croweater is a popular Australian demonym for South Australian people.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1381253.htm |first1=Kel|last1=Richards |publisher=ABC NewsRadio |title=Wordwatch: Croweater |access-date=12 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050915013033/http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1381253.htm |archive-date=15 September 2005}}}} 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.{{cite web | last=Jeuniewic | first=Lexie | title=Active Clubs and white supremacy groups targeting young men a 'threat to social cohesion' in Australia | website=ABC News | date=3 August 2024 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-03/active-clubs-white-supremecy-groups-targeting-men/104164174 | access-date=3 August 2024}}

Active Club England has at least 100 members and 8 chapters.{{Cite web |last=Kachroo |first=Rohit |date=2025-02-11 |title=Training for a 'race war': ITV News unmasks neo-Nazi network Active Club England |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2025-02-11/itv-news-unmasks-fast-growing-neo-nazi-network-active-club-england |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=ITV News}} 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.{{Cite web |last=O'Donoghue |first=Daniel |date=2024-10-01 |title=Far-right group using sports to 'build militia', experts warn |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ydnqdq38wo |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Active Club England was able to recruit many new members after the riots.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-14 |title=PM says 'action' needed after ITV News unmasks far-right group preparing for 'race war' |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2025-02-13/pm-says-action-needed-after-itv-news-unmasks-fascist-far-right-fight-club |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=ITV News}} 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. 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.

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").{{Cite news |last=Kachroo |first=Rohit |date=2025-02-12 |title=Inside Britain's fascist fight club: Secret footage shows far-right group preparing for 'race war' |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2025-02-11/undercover-footage-shows-far-right-group-preparing-for-race-war |access-date=2025-02-12 |work=ITV News}} The branch included members from Ukraine, Romania, Spain and Italy.{{Cite news |date=2025-02-12 |title=Active Club England: How ITV News secretly recorded and infiltrated a fascist far-right fight club |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2025-02-12/how-itv-news-infiltrated-a-fascist-far-right-fight-club |access-date=2025-02-12 |work=ITV News}} In April, a 28 year old man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.{{Cite web |last=Kachroo |first=Rohit |date=2025-04-09 |title=Man arrested after ITV News investigation exposed white supremacist network |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2025-04-09/man-arrested-after-itv-news-investigation-exposed-white-supremacist-network |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=ITV News}}

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Category:Accelerationism

Category:Neo-Nazi organizations in the United States

Category:White genocide conspiracy theory

Category:2021 establishments in the United States

Category:Organizations established in 2021

Category:Mixed martial arts organizations