F.B.I. agents thought they had weakened an online hate group known as the Base. A string of European terrorism cases indicates it has resurged. Over the past 18 months, investigators across Europe have dismantled a string of neo-Nazi groups. Some were well organized and armed with guns and knives. Others appeared looser. In Britain, a teenager was arrested and charged with plotting an attack to start a race war. These seemingly unrelated cases shared a thread. In each, the authorities linked key figures to a far-right group known as the Base, which recruits online, largely through white supremacist memes and propaganda. The group’s message is that multiculturalism has made Western society irredeemable. Recruits are urged to commit sabotage and murder to hasten its collapse. American law enforcement officials thought they had stifled the group years ago with a series of prosecutions. Its European resurgence is particularly concerning, experts say, because the Base’s goals align so squarely with the Kremlin’s efforts to conduct sabotage and undermine Western governments. The man behind the Base, the authorities say, is a 52-year-old American living in Russia, far outside the reach of Western authorities. In recent years, as Russia has waged war against Ukraine, the Base has begun promoting violence against Ukrainian politicians, government offices and infrastructure, according to a report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an international research organization. Steven Rai, the author of that report, said the Russian government may simply be giving the group’s founder safe haven. “Another possibility is that the relationship extends beyond tacit approval,” he said, “with Russia offering more direct and covert forms of support.” Rinaldo Nazzaro, whom Europol identified in December as the man behind the Base, has said the group promotes self-defense, not terrorism or Nazism. He has repeatedly denied any relationship with the Russian security services.
via ny times: An American in Russia Is Linked to Neo-Nazi Terror Cells Across Europe