Right-wing extremism is a shape-shifting, rapidly evolving beast. The latest form lures young men from mainstream society under the cover of training in sport or physical combat and fraternity. They’re known as Active Clubs. 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.” And they’ve made it to Australia. A South Australia-based Active Club known as Croweater has surfaced online in recent months. The founder of Croweater, according to Mr Ritzmann, is Thomas Sewell, a known neo-Nazi. Mr Sewell was suspended from X, formerly known as Twitter, in July, but the Croweater page remains on the social media platform. At the top of the account page is an image with masked members carrying a banner emblazoned with “Australia for the white man”. (…) John Coyne — the head of strategic policing and law enforcement at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) — said the presence of groups like Active Clubs in Australia was concerning. “They represent a significant risk and a significant threat to social cohesion in this nation and potentially are the precursors for violent extremism,” Dr Coyne said. “We have seen these groups in Australia, and we’ve seen them make very deliberate efforts to breadcrumb general members of the public and legitimise their position. We saw this earlier this year, where we saw a group of black-clad young men on Australia Day going to protest in Sydney.”
Categories: Rechtsextremismus