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The same American-born neo-fascist fight clubs surging in numbers across the US and around the world, have capitalized on the assassination of far-right commentator Charlie Kirk, to entice new recruits with promises of vengeance and racist camaraderie.
These so-called “active clubs” are a loose collective of neo-Nazi mixed martial arts groups that gather at local gyms and parks to train, tapping into existing gangs of white nationalists or adjacent organizations. Global authorities view them as perhaps one of the most organized and pernicious domestic terrorism threats, emanating from far-right political ideologies.
“Active clubs are exploiting the assassination of Charlie Kirk for recruitment purposes, specifically urging white men to join the movement,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a professional analyst who researches the far right. “In online posts, active clubs have also stated that the current environment presents an opportunity to expand the movement, claiming that regular people are receptive to their ‘radical message.’”
Heidi Beirich, the executive vice-president of Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) and a longtime expert of American white supremacists, agreed with Fisher-Birch.
“Kirk’s assassination has become a rallying cry for some of the most extreme elements in the US, meaning neo-Nazis and white supremacists,” she said. “We will likely see more of these pro-Kirk protests by extremists in the coming days.”
Not unlike the Maga disciples of the mainstream, active clubs immediately seized on Kirk’s murder as evidence of an “anti-White” and leftwing oppression campaign. Some have suggested the killing is the alleged work of a man who authorities have characterized as in a romantic relationship with a trans person – a frequent target of far-right scorn.
“You should watch the video of the blood gushing from his lifeless corpse when you make excuses not to join a nationalist org or when you skip the gym,” wrote a neo-Nazi Telegram account linked to active clubs, in a post viewed thousands of times by its followers. A meme spread by the same account shows a photo of Kirk holding a child with blood splatters in the background and the slogan: “The time for debating liberals is over.”
Several active clubs and far-right figures acknowledged in social media posts that though Kirk was no true friend to the neo-Nazi and an accused agent of the Israeli government, his work helped spread far-right ideas to the general public and his promotion of white supremacy should not go unappreciated.
“I wasn’t a Charlie Kirk follower, but I am a White American citizen,” wrote one southern California active club, acknowledging their movement wasn’t in alignment with Kirk but sees his death as a major inflection point. “Don’t be that person who watches someone die alone, be the person who does good where you can and helps those in need.”
Responses from California active clubs, where membership appears to be one of the highest in the country, was notable.
“To be pro-White in any Western country is a justifiable reason to murder you and your family in the eyes of the Left,” wrote a chapter in northern California. “Every other political talking point regarding Charlie’s death is irrelevant.”
The post continued: “White man, the time has come to fight back. If you are not actively fighting back you are an active participant in our replacement.”
Over the weekend in Huntington Beach, active clubs marched with Patriot Front – another neo-fascist group founded in the aftermath of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia – in a demonstration commemorating Kirk and the slain Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, whose tragic murder has also been capitalized on by the far right.
“There were definitely active club members in the protest march in Huntington Beach – Telegram channels carried images and videos of the march,” said Beirich. “Other white supremacists were there as well.”
Indeed, the Patriot Front account carried posts showing their members at the demonstration, noting they were in “attendance” with two active clubs.
“Patriot Front on the ground in Huntington Beach, California, at a vigil for Charlie Kirk and Iryna Zarutska, protesting the unsafe conditions in America brought on by the radical left and racial foreigners,” it said in the post. The groups chanted: “white men fight back.”
Taking their direct cues from the machismo promoted in the teachings of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, active clubs maintain the veneer of being community oriented and upstanding citizens, but in reality are deeply racist and linked to hate groups. Its founder, Rob Rundo, is a prominent neo-Nazi and was a leader of a white supremacist streetfighting gang. He pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to riot at 2017 political rallies in California.
The active club model has been easily adopted into a range of global neo-fascist groups, with chapters everywhere from Australia to Finland and South America. GPAHE reports they’ve already appeared in 27 countries, along with burgeoning youth wings – modeled similarly to the Hitler Youth clubs seen in Germany during the 1930s.
