Alexander Ritzmann from the Counter Extremism Project has been researching the phenomenon for years and believes there is a danger that shadow militias could emerge from some of the groups and strike on D-Day. Day X is supposed to be the assumption of power by a right-wing dictator. The historical model for part of the movement is the Sturmabteilung (SA) of the NSDAP. Also Julian M.'s men in Berlin. In October 2024, a DJV member wrote to his leader in a chat that he now wanted to set up his own "subgroup along the lines of the SA".

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.
 

"The Counter Extremism Project says the goal of Active Clubs is 'to build a shadow militia while evading law enforcement scrutiny'.
'Active Clubs pretend to have deradicalised and to only focus on sports and brotherhood,' the project's Alexander Ritzmann told a Senate hearing last week.
'They're often founded by members of established open extreme right neo-Nazi groups to attract members from mainstream society.'"

CEP and CEP Senior Advisor Alexander Ritzmann remarks to Australian Parliament quoted: "A counter-extremist group has warned a Senate committee a fast-growing, global far-right extremism group has infiltrated Australia. Known as 'Active Clubs', the hearing was told the group thrives on social media, and exists to build a "shadow militia" while evading law enforcement scrutiny."

Active Clubs “promise a massive status upgrade through white supremacy,” said Alexander Ritzmann, a political scientist and senior advisor at the Counter Extremism Project. “It’s specifically interesting for people who feel unaccomplished, discriminated [against], unseen.…male fragility plus a tendency for violence. That is the target audience.”

"Active Club portrays itself as consisting of combat sports groups. Alexander Ritzmann, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin, said in a research paper that the Active Club’s real purpose is to create a 'standby militia' that can be activated to create violence on behalf of neo-Nazi causes."

"Alexander Ritzmann, a senior advisor of the Counter-Extremism Project, has been a leading expert on Active Clubs and their international spread. He told VICE News that in the United States, the Active Clubs appear to be building 'a militia that looks like a combat sports network.'"

"According to Vice News, a report from the Counter Extremism Project identified ;at least one hundred Active Clubs in the United States, Canada and Europe.'

A worrying phenomenon - The phenomenon is very worrying because, as reported by Alexander Ritzmann, author of the report, 'it is an unprecedented growth. I have never seen a right-wing extremist network grow so quickly. It usually takes years to build a transnational network.'"

"By August, research conducted by Alexander Ritzmann for the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a nonprofit that tracks extremist groups, found that there were 46 clubs operating in 34 different states—a 50 percent increase in the number of clubs and a 100 percent increase in the geographical spread in the space of just five months....
The vast majority of the Telegram channels identified as belonging to the clubs listed in the CEP report are public, available for everyone to see. The transparency is part of Rundo’s White Supremacy 3.0 strategy where he urges groups to only post positive content about training of the sense of brotherhood that the clubs claim to inspire, while avoiding violent threats and Nazi symbolism. But some groups do not appear to be subscribing to Rundo’s ideals—chief among them, the Tennessee Active Club."