A network of white supremacist ‘Active Clubs’ whose members aim to be combat-ready is expanding across the UK, an investigation shows. The extreme-right movement is part of around 100 groups worldwide said to be preparing for ‘Day X’ — a power struggle with other groups. Originating in the US, the guiding strategy is to build decentralised, shadow militias with a veneer of legitimacy to avoid law enforcement scrutiny. Resembling mixed martial arts (MMA) clubs, members are asked to avoid threatening behaviour or displaying obvious Nazi symbols in public. However underneath the focus on combat sports and ‘brotherhood’ lie groups which are often founded by members with neo-Nazi or similar extreme-right agendas who are trying to attract recruits from mainstream society — an approach known as the ‘3.0 model’. 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). The government responded to the research by highlighting ‘rapid’ work taking place to counter ‘growing and changing patterns of extremism.’ ‘The Active Club strategy was specifically developed to evade law enforcement monitoring and intervention and to prepare for a Day X scenario,’ senior CEP advisor Alexander Ritzmann said. ‘For example, this could be serving as the militia to a political extreme-right party and to fight their political enemies. ‘Violence by groups and individuals that follow the Active Club strategy will likely come without manifestos in the meantime.’
via metro: Inside the neo-Nazi ‘Active Clubs’ preparing for ‘Day X’