Neo-Nazi Active Clubs Spreading Globally, Allying with Similar Extremists, and Taking to the Streets

[Celerity]

https://globalextremism.org/post/active-clubs-spreading-globally/



In early October, a group of hardened neo-Nazis called the Tennessee Active Club, some wearing face coverings and others with facial tattoos, showed up at a candidates forum in Franklin, Tenn., a major suburb of Nashville. They were there to provide “security” and “support” for Franklin mayoral candidate, anti-LGBTQ+ activist and MAGA acolyte Gabrielle Hanson, who has done business with some of the members. One of them, Sean Kauffman, is a Holocaust denier with a history of violence and a large cache of firearms. Another man in the group described himself on Telegram as “an actual literal Nazi.” The situation was terrifying for those attending the forum. Franklin’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen denounced the situation and said, “Individuals identifying as neo-Nazi’s and self-admitted supporters of Gabrielle Hanson threatened both our citizens and members of the media during and after this important civic event.” Hanson refused to apologize for inviting neo-Nazis to the forum.



Active is a good word for these hardcore racists, who have dedicated themselves to MMA fighting and other sports activities, but clearly aren’t confining themselves to the gym. In recent months, these groups have become more politically active. There have been far more public neo-Nazi actions in the US in 2023 than the two years prior, many involving the Active Clubs (ACs) or their close allies, and as the 2024 elections ramp up, ACs and their allies will likely be seen on the streets more. And just in the past few months, ACs from across the nation have also held protests in front of the Anti-Defamation League’s Denver office and protested an LGBTQ+ event in Sevier County, Tenn., alongside other hate groups. In early summer, they went on an anti-LGBTQ+ spree, protesting a drag queen story hour in Bozeman, Montana, a similar event the same day in Livingston, Montana, the Lewis County Pride Festival in Centralia, Washington, the Wind River Pride event in Lander, Wyoming, and the Oregon City Pride. Past actions have included spreading conspiratorial propaganda that Jews control the world and that white people are being targeted for violence by Black people. Other propaganda reads, “never apologize for being white.”

Link to tweet

And that’s just here in the US. ACs are found all over Europe and as far away as Australia, many with ties to one of the most violent international racist skinhead organizations, the Hammerskins. Their members have a track record of violence and working with other extremists groups. In France, which has the most AC chapters outside of the US, a key leader attacked customers at a gay bar in Lille and a man of African descent. A leader of a UK AC was imprisoned for possessing a Nazi “murder manual.” A Swiss AC’s members had their weapons seized and are under surveillance by the authorities. In Germany, their events have been banned.



This sprawling far-right, white supremacist transnational network of Active Clubs has metastasized across most of the Western world. This new network of “sports clubs,” first conceptualized by American neo-Nazi Robert Rundo and Russian neo-Nazi Denis Kapustin, a key MMA organizer who is banned from EU countries for his track record of hate and violence. In late 2020, Rundo began to dream of a decentralized international white brotherhood, called “Active Clubs,” that he described in a December 2020 essay, calling it “White Nationalism 3.0.” The movement would be made up of small white supremacist cells working at the local level which he hoped would make them harder for law enforcement and anti-fascists to identify and shut down. The ACs would focus on decentralized local organizations dedicated to sport, martial arts training, propaganda and street actions. And they would look like what they believed: “a group of strong white men is a fascist statement in itself.” Rundo has said that they are a new kind of “leaderless resistance…like the minutemen in the early stages of the revolutionary war.”

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[Bundbuster]

1. Thanks for this extensive, detailed post. And it's no surprise,

given the rise of MAGA and all of the reichwing elections globally in recent years. If we can't stop it here in 2024, the world looks to become a collection of totalitarian fascist oligarchies. When I was growing up in the 1950's and '60's I always assumed that it would be the total opposite - a steady trend toward socialism, if not world government, in the best interests of everyone except the 1%. Obviously I didn't understand the operational dark side of human nature.

[Elessar Zappa]

3. Although we've taken a few steps back,

things are still better than they were in the 50s and 60s, especially for minorities, women, and the lgbtq community. We can reverse the current trend if all the good people in the world get informed and work together to prevent the fascists from achieving further progress.

[Bundbuster]

2. Kicking - very valuable material in this thread.

Know your enemies, especially fascists.