| Active Clubs | |
|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Political position | Far-right[4] |
| Allies | |
| Website | https://activeclub.org/ https://activeclubengland.org/ (England) https://aktivklubb.se/ (Sweden) https://www.aktivklubb.no/ (Norway) |
Active Clubs are decentralizedcells ofwhite supremacist andneo-Nazi groups active in many U.S. states, with multiple chapters in other nations. Largely inspired by the defunct street-fightingRise Above Movement formed by Robert Rundo in 2017 andhooliganism, the network was created in January 2021 and promotesmixed martial arts to fight against what it asserts is a system that is targeting thewhite race, as well as a "warrior spirit" to prepare for a forthcomingrace war. Someextremism researchers have characterized the network as a "shadow or stand-by army" which could be activated for coordinated violence.[10][11][12][13] The English branch was involved in organising the2024 United Kingdom riots.[14]
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 asPatriot Front.[10][12][13]
Rundo was extradited fromRomania 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.[12][15]
The network adheres to theGreat Replacement andwhite 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 withnon-white immigrants.[16]
According toVice andThe Guardian, members of the terrorist groupAtomwaffen Division are active "and play key roles" in organizing the Active Club Network.[17][18] Leading member ofAtomwaffen's Canadian branch andOrder of Nine Angles,Patrick Gordon Macdonald, who has been charged with terrorism offenses, was allegedly also a member of Canadian Active Club.[19][20] 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.[21] 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.[9] Further, Active Club Finland trainsKarelian separatists that the Secretary of the Security Council of RussiaNikolai Patrushev characterized as a terrorist group.[5][22] 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 ofTerrorgram propaganda and planned to join theRussian Volunteer Corps.[23]
In September 2023, theCounter 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.[24][25]
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."[25]
As of August 2023[update], theAnti-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.[12][26]
In August 2024, it was reported that Australia had an Active Club Network. Known neo-NaziThomas Sewell leads a group inSouth Australia known as Croweater.[a] Sewell was suspended fromX 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 were not well-established in Australia as of August 2024.[28]
Estonian Active Club members were involved with the "NS/SK!НОВ" Telegram channel that spread terrorist propaganda and organized far-right violence. Estonian member ran the "Pedo Hunting Estonia" channel. In 2024, three Active Club Estonia members were convicted of far-right vigilantism. According to aEstonian Internal Security Service report Active Club Estonia is "a group mainly engaged in promotingTesak-style vigilante operations in Estonia". Active Club Estonia has members fighting in Ukraine and has organized charity drives for them. Estonian Active Club was allegedly founded with the support of Estonian Atomwaffen member.[29][30][31]
In Finland, local groups operate at least in theUusimaa andPäijät-Häme regions andOulu,Turku,Tampere, andKokkola as of May 2024.[32][33] Active Club Finland took part in the 2024Independence Day march commemorating the SS organized by neo-Nazis and the far-rightFinns Party. Active Club members assaulted leftist counterdemonstrators and stole and burned their flags and signs.[34][35][36] Finnish journalists have concluded that Active Club Finland shares members with the fascistBlue-and-Black Movement.[37]
In April 2022, a branch of the Active Club was established in France, initially inNormandy. In 2024,Libération reported that it had around 20 local chapters[38] andStreetPress [fr] reported that it had about a hundred members.[39] Its logo features a knight's helmet on afleur-de-lis andCeltic cross background. The organization maintains links with other French far-right groups such asAction Française andGroupe Union Défense.[40] It brings togethernationalist-revolutionaries [fr],identitarians androyalists.[38] According to theCounter Extremism Project, France is one of the countries outside North America where these groups are most active.[26][41] The movement's French Telegram channel, created in 2022, has over 11,000 subscribers.[39]
Its members took part in several violent actions, including aracially-motivated raid inRomans-sur-Isère (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes),anti-immigration demonstrations inSaint-Brevin-les-Pins (Pays de la Loire), and clashes with left-wing activists inMontpellier during the2024 farmers' protests.[38] InSaint-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. InMâcon, 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.[39]
As of June 2024, there are at least 12 Active Club groups in Germany. German groups are also affiliated with a neo-Nazi media collective led by Benjamin Moses of the neo-NaziFreie Sachsen party, a district council member elected inBautzen. Active Club Germany also shares members with theJunge Nationalisten (JN), and were represented in their "Kämpfen für Europa" event that had attendants from at least eight countries. The JN were also linked to the attack on Social Democrat politicianMatthias Ecke.[42]
Local groups established themselves in Sweden in 2023, under the names Gym XIV andAktivklubb Sverige. The emergence of these groups coincided with the decrease of members in theNordic Resistance Movement who consist of similar demographics.[43][44] Active Club members have multiple times been aggressive against participants at Pride events in Sweden. An investigation byExpo identified approximately 80 members of Swedish Active Clubs, of which more than half had a criminal record, some of which included assault, illegal threats orincitement to ethnic or racial hatred.[44]
Aktivklubb Sverige was in the news again in July 2025 when anExpo investigation found that Sweden's Migration MinisterJohan Forssell's son was active in the neo-Nazi group.[45]
In October 2025 the prosecutor brought charges against four men aged 20 to 24 in connection with a wave of violence that occurred in Stockholm in August. According to the prosecutor, the acts were motivated by racism, and each of the accused is linked to the activities of the Swedish branch of the Active Club.[46] Oliver Sima Petrell, Olof Pantzar, Casper Englund and Joey Greven received sentences ranging from three years to three years and six months.[47]
In May 2023, Active Club Scotland (ACS) posted its first video. Members of the group have made bomb threats and marched withNational Action, a banned neo-Nazi terrorist organisation, and some members have links toPatriotic 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 slogan14 Words on its Telegram channel.[48]
Active Club England has at least 100 members and 8 chapters.[49] 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 wearingWaffen-SS t-shirts. They offered guidance on how to avoid police detection during the2024 riots which followed theSouthport stabbings.[14] Active Club England was able to recruit many new members after the riots.[50] 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.[50]Neil Basu, former head of UK counterterrorism policing, described Active Club England as the successor toNational Action, a neo-Nazi group founded in 2013 that was banned in 2016 after celebrating themurder of MP Jo Cox by a white supremacist.[50]
An undercoverITV 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 withNazi salutes (which they refer to as "Romans").[51] The branch included members from Ukraine, Romania, Spain and Italy.[52] In April, a 28 year old man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.[53]
In October 2025, British Order of Nine Angles member Declan George Candiani was convicted of terror offenses for possessing terrorist material likeNo Lives Matter andManiac Murder Cult guides to perpetrating mass shootings, stabbings and car ramming attacks. Candiani was a prospective member of the Active Club England.[54][55]
The Guardian reported in August 2023 that some in the Clockwork Crew, a cell of about one dozen members inLong 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 atCamp Pendleton" in 2021. A Clockwork Crew co-founder wascourt-martialed, sentenced to eleven months in thebrig and given a bad conduct discharge for violating the Marine Corps's ban on the advocacy of extremist ideologies.[17]
TheKansas City, Missouri Active Club is led by a former marine who closely cooperates with themilitia Mid Missouri Minutemen. The MMM are an explicitly antisemitic and white nationalist militia that has made posts like “GAS THE K-‑-‑-‑-RACE WAR NOW” on their social media. The MMM and Active Club have had shared events, like firearm drills andrucking with firearms in nature.[56]
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.
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.
"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.
Liel has claimed he was once affiliated with the Atomwaffen Division
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.
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.
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."
Helsinki, Finland, 'Towards Freedom' and '612 for freedom' march' in memory of the Finnish SS-battalion which fought with Nazi Germany