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Hitler in the gym: Rise of Neo-Nazi clubs in UK

According to reports the Active Club Network has been disguising itself as a sports organisation but actually functions as a transnational network driven by white supremacist ideology.

AP

The group has been actively posting frightening images showing members celebrating Hitler's birthday with a cake decorated with a swastika. / Photo: AP

A new Neo-Nazi group, that works in the garb of a sports club, has surfaced in the wake of far-right rioting in the UK against Muslims two months before and a surge in hate crimes against Muslims fuelling fears and undermining their fundamental rights.

The group namely, Active Club Network (ACN) has been documented as a decentralised and transnational neo-fascist in a report published this month by the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET).

According to the report, the focus on the ACN is due to its presence across several social media platforms, including alternative sites, to attract new members in England.

Active Club has been describing itself as a sports organisation that promotes self-improvement via weight training and fitness for young men. However, its members openly revere Adolf Hitler.

It calls its followers to strictly adhere to the no drugs policy, no sexual offence convictions, and no crimes committed in the club's name, perhaps to legitimise its presence.

According to a BBC investigation released last month, the group has been actively posting images showing members celebrating Hitler's birthday with a cake decorated with a swastika.

Other members were observed wearing T-shirts with the lettering Waffen-SS, a clear allusion to the Nazi military branch.

Following the UK far-right rioting, the organisation urged its members not to be passive and instructed them to "wear masks" and conceal recognisable tattoos to evade police inspection.

"Active Clubs have progressively gained popularity in the UK, with over 6,000 Telegram users. It has branches throughout the North West, Midlands, East Anglia, and London, as well as Scotland and Northern Ireland." according to Alexander Ritzmann, Senior Advisor at the Counter Extremism Project.

He further warned that Active Clubs is deliberately portraying itself as 'just another right-wing sports group' to avoid discovery by authorities.

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The US connection

According to an article published in UK-based, Express, the first Active Club was formed in the United States in late 2020, and there are now said to be over 100 such clubs spread across North America and Europe.

The notion was initially championed by Robert Rundo, an American far-right activist who created the Rise Above Movement (RAM), which is most known for its role in the 2017 Unite the Right demonstration in Charlottesville.

According to the Guardian, there has been marked evidence to establish the connection between Active Clubs in the US and the UK as members of analogous groups in the United States have gone to the UK in recent months.

British far-right groups such as Patriotic Alternative. Hope Not Hate regards Active Club Scotland (ACS) as one of the first to develop in Britain have been reported to be the first to start the consolidation of Active Clubs, drawing inspiration from US clubs that came out of the Rise Above Movement, a far-right street-fighting group in California.

The group's increased membership, marked social media presence and open endorsement of Hitler as an ideologue comes at a time when far-right electoral politics is on rise in the Europe, and have sent shock waves in Britain where recent far-right riots targetted Muslims and migrants.

Educationists also fear losing students to the group and expect violent incidents in colleges and schools.