ARD Tagesschau podcast on Active Clubs with Alexander Ritzmann
Young men meet in trendy sports clubs for fitness training and boxing or practise jiu-jitsu martial arts. According to experts, the so-called "active clubs" are primarily about fun and camaraderie, while also introducing them to right-wing ideologies of violence. Apparently, well-known figures from the right-wing extremist scene are behind this. In this 11KM episode, SWR reporter Florian Barth talks about the new phenomenon of "Active Clubs", in which right-wing activists apparently train for street fighting and a "system overthrow", how right-wing networks are organized and recruited throughout Germany and how security authorities are looking at them.
 

“A hateful white supremacist network with a ‘fight club’ ethos is spreading across the US and around the world, new research shows. Neo-Nazi Active Clubs are said to be one of the fastest-growing extreme-right groups in America and are also present in the UK and Europe. The branches outwardly promote mixed martial arts (MMA) training and ‘brotherhood’ while preparing members for a race war against their perceived enemies, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)… The general ethos for members worldwide is to look and act like ‘regular guys’ and not talk about ‘politics, Jews or history’, according to research by the Counter Extremism Project, a New York-based policy organisation.”

“... For extremism expert Alexander Ritzmann, this is precisely the strategy of the "Active Clubs". "Violent right-wing extremists train, prepare for violence, but act as if they were just doing sports." Ritzmann works for the non-governmental organization "Counter Extremism Project", which operates in the USA and Europe and deals with extremist movements worldwide. In his opinion, the "Active Clubs" serve one main purpose: to build a network of right-wing extremists who are prepared to fight and use violence. According to Ritzmann, it remains to be seen what really drives the right-wing extremists behind the still young "Active Club" movement: "Will it remain a fist fight? Or is it just a pretense, a pretext, and in fact it is an armed militia, an armed vigilante group."” 

"There were 46 Active Clubs in the US in August 2023, the most recent numbers available, according to the Counter Extremism Project. In April 2023, the Accelerationism Research Consortium, which tracks hate groups, had found 30 Active Clubs in 17 states."

“"We are trying to bring some normality back to the lives of the affected communities."Any volunteer who comes to North Carolina or Florida to help the victims of hurricanes Helene and Milton could say the same. But the man who says this in front of a camera in a video posted on Telegram on October 6 and shared on most social networks is not just anyone. […] "The Patriot Front is also clearly fascist, and its logo is inspired by that of Benito Mussolini's Italian National Fascist Party ," says Matthew Feldman. It is also a group anchored in a culture of violence that "is linked to the American network of neo-Nazi cells of the Active Club Network ," says Joshua-Fisher Birch, an American analyst for the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), an international organisation that fights extremist movements.”

“Reviving England’s warrior culture” by posing as a sports club. That is what a far-right group linked to a violent white supremacist collective is doing, which has been recruiting young people to achieve that goal, according to a BBC investigation. […] Alexander Ritzmann, a researcher at the international organisation The Counter Extremism Project and an advisor to the European Commission's Radicalisation Awareness Network, says he has “never seen a far-right network grow so fast”. He described Active Club as a “sophisticated operation” and warned that if it was allowed to “continue to operate and multiply, the likelihood of targeted political violence would increase.” He added that his aim was to “build a kind of militia hidden behind the image of a sports club, but which in reality is preparing for organised violence.”

"Alexander Ritzmann, Senior Advisor at the Counter Extremism Project, cautions that Active Clubs are carefully presenting themselves as 'just another right-wing sports club' to evade detection by authorities."

"Alexander Ritzmann, a researcher with international organisation The Counter Extremism Project and an adviser to the European Commission’s Radicalisation Awareness Network, said he had "never seen a network in right-wing extremism grow so fast".

He said AC was a "sophisticated operation" and warned if the movement was "allowed to continue to operate and multiply, the likelihood for targeted political violence will increase"."

"The clubs are ‘arguably the largest and fastest growing violent extreme-right network’, and are spreading across the UK, according to the insights provided to Metro.co.uk by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP)."

"A report published last year by the Counter Extremism Project described Active Clubs as a 'stand-by militia of trained and capable [right-wing extremists] who can be activated when the need for coordinated violent action on a larger scale arises.'"