Content warning: This Dispatch contains racial slurs and other offensive language that may be disturbing to some readers.

Executive summary

Active Clubs are a decentralized network of White supremacist groups centered around physical fitness and mixed martial arts. ISD research revealed that some members of US-based Active Clubs are using their personal X accounts to call for violence against racial and religious minorities, public officials, and perceived ideological opponents. This represents a departure from the traditionally non-violent public messaging of the network.

This Dispatch shows how some Active Club members promote the use of violence as an acceptable strategy for accomplishing their political objectives. There are no indications that the larger Active Club network has imminent plans to engage in mass violence, but these findings show how the network’s public-facing messaging often acts as a cover for the violent beliefs held by at least some of its members.

Key findings

• Active Clubs’ public posts typically emphasize innocuous topics such as fitness, fraternity, and self-improvement. However, individual Active Club members used personal X accounts to issue explicit calls for violence against perceived enemies.
• Active Club members on X primarily targeted Black and Jewish communities with violent and eliminationist rhetoric, issued calls for violence against domestic and foreign public officials, threatened their perceived ideological opponents, and promoted racist religions which have inspired acts of terrorism in the past.
• The Active Club members’ posts on X provide further evidence that the network’s attempts to sanitize its public image are part of a broader strategy to conceal hardline White supremacist beliefs and violent aspirations that drive at least some of its individual members to action.

Introduction

Active Clubs (ACs) are white nationalist extremist groups that emphasize physical fitness and hand-to-hand combat skills. According to the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), there are currently 187 AC chapters in 27 countries – a 25 percent increase since 2023. As evidenced in previous research, ACs seek to gradually indoctrinate new recruits into a White supremacist belief system. At the same time, they encourage participation in combat sports and fitness to prepare them for an anticipated (but often unspecified) conflict against perceived ideological enemies. Groups typically eschew overtly violent or racist messaging in favor of a more palatable image for communities and potential recruits. While ACs may hint at their desire to commit violence at some point in the future, their public-facing messages on such topics are nearly always couched in defensive terms.

However, this Dispatch reveals how some members of US-based ACs explicitly encourage and legitimize the use of offensive violence to accomplish White supremacist and neo-Nazi political goals. ISD analysts identified the personal X accounts of six individuals assessed to be members of five US-based ACs, based across California, North Carolina, Texas and the New England region. These accounts have made explicit calls for violence; in some cases their posts resemble the rhetoric of neo-Nazi accelerationist communities such as Terrorgram. This stands in stark contrast to the relatively benign content typically promoted by ACs on their publicly accessible social media channels, including Telegram.

Previous ISD research has shown that White nationalist organizations are not monoliths – members vary in terms of specific ideology, commitment to the cause and propensity for violence. While there is no indication that AC groups are planning violence en masse, this research indicates that individual AC members may encourage others to carry out attacks or seek to commit acts of ideologically motivated violence themselves.

Analysis of Active Club members’ threatening rhetoric on X

Analysts reviewed X posts made between October 2024 and December 2025 by six individuals assessed to be AC members. They identified 41 posts from their accounts that either explicitly or implicitly called for violence.

This sampling was neither exhaustive nor representative and conclusions from this Dispatch should not be interpreted as an analysis of all AC members in the US. However, the findings evidence how some AC members use their X accounts to spread hate and calls for violence against minority groups, public officials and perceived ideological opponents. The presence of these more extreme members in ACs, who appear to demonstrate a greater willingness to endorse violent activity, suggests that the network’s interests and beliefs extend far beyond the mere physical and spiritual betterment of its White male members often promoted in public-facing groups.

Threatening rhetoric against racial/ethnic groups

The six AC members included in the analysis predominantly targeted Black and Jewish communities with racist, dehumanizing and eliminationist rhetoric. While other racial and ethnic groups were also targeted, analysts found AC members targeted Black and Jewish individuals at a higher rate.

Virulent antisemitic tropes about Jewish people are common in White nationalist spaces, however these AC members indicated an interest in seeing violence committed against the Jewish community. One member of a California-based AC responded supportively to a user calling for the execution of individuals associated with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish civil rights organization that monitors antisemitism; their response, “TKD”, is a common White supremacist slogan which stands for “Total K**e Death”.

AC members targeted the Black community in a similar manner. In multiple posts, AC members argued that lynchings of Black people by the Ku Klux Klan were justified. In response to a news report about a Black individual accused of murder, a California-based AC member wrote “TND”, a White supremacist slogan which stands for “Total N****r Death.”

The AC members’ explicit calls for violence against ethnic/racial minorities stands in stark contrast to the content found in public AC Telegram channels. While these channels often post racist and antisemitic content, they largely refrain from outright promotion of violent activity to their subscribers. The rhetoric highlighted above, particularly the usage of the phrases TKD and TND, is more commonly found in neo-Nazi accelerationist spaces.

Threatening rhetoric against public officials

Analysts observed AC members use threatening rhetoric against both domestic and foreign government officials. Members based in California and South Carolina called for violence against officials who they believed to be working against the interests of the White race by supporting Israel and facilitating the immigration of people of color. The latter point is typically espoused by proponents of the ‘Great Replacement’ theory, who argue that White Europeans are being deliberately replaced through immigration and the growth of minority communities. In multiple posts, AC members called for the lynching of public officials, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (both Republicans).

Analysts also observed US-based AC members make threatening statements towards Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom and a city council member in Ireland. In these cases, AC members were either responding to officials who had condemned anti-migrant riots, or those who issued supportive statements for immigrants and refugees. In one example, a member of a New England-based AC replied to a pro-migrant post from Jeremy Corbyn, an Independent MP, by saying that the “punishment” for Corbyn’s “treason” would be death.

The posts targeting foreign officials highlight the transnational nature of the AC network. Members from Western Europe, North America, Australia and even Latin America view themselves as interconnected in a global struggle against so-called “enemies” of the White race. Furthermore, the posts showcased a common sentiment expressed by AC members included in the analysis: a desire to commit ideologically motivated violence once political and social conditions are in their favor.

Threatening rhetoric against perceived ideological opponents

AC members used threatening rhetoric against their perceived ideological opponents, including so-called “leftists”, prominent political commentators and journalists. One AC member also made references to the Turner Diaries, a novel popular among neo-Nazi accelerationists which has been linked to multiple terrorist attacks.

In one instance, a member of a California-based AC wrote “you’re facing the wall” in response to a post from an influential political commentator denouncing violent rhetoric following the assassination of political commentator Charlie Kirk’s. ISD analysts assessed the phrase “facing the wall” likely refers to the AC member’s desire to see the commentator executed by a firing squad. The same AC member also wrote multiple posts expressing their interest in using firearms to commit acts of violence against “Marxists” and “lefties”.

A prominent member of a Texas-based AC posted an image of a noose with the phrase “Day of the Rope”. This is an explicit reference to White nationalist novel The Turner Diaries: the Day of the Rope is an event in which “race traitors” (including government officials, judges and journalists) are executed in a mass public hanging. The book is a foundational text for neo-Nazi accelerationists. It has been read by the perpetrators of several terrorist attacks, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 2011 Norway attacks.

Promotion of racist religions

At least two X accounts likely operated by AC members promoted Christian Identity (CI) and Creativity, racist religions that have inspired past acts of White supremacist violence.

Not to be confused with individuals who identify as Christians, CI propagates the idea that the Biblical descendants of Adam and Eve are exclusively White. CI has inspired several violent acts in the US, including by members of The Order, a neo-Nazi terrorist organization which was responsible for a spate of armed robberies, bombings, and the assassination of a Jewish radio show host between October 1983 – December 1984.

Creativity is a racist religion which calls for race war and advocates White supremacist beliefs. Several Creativity adherents have been arrested and convicted in recent decades for plotting or committing violence against racial and ethnic minorities. This includes Jeremiah Knesal, a Church of the Creator member who confessed to bombing the office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Tacoma, Washington in 1993.

A member of a Southern California-based AC made dozens of posts advocating for CI. These included posts promoting the dual seedline doctrine, a fringe strain within CI which posits the antisemitic belief that Jewish people are the direct offspring of Satan. Analysts observed the AC member sought guidance from several prominent CI proponents. These included William Finck and Billy Roper, a former National Alliance member and founder of the Shieldwall Network.

Another member from a New England-based AC issued numerous posts advocating for Creativity. Analysts observed the member post several images of Creativity texts and interacting with a self-described Creativity “minister”. They also posted numerous images featuring the acronym “RAHOWA” which stands for “racial holy war.”

Religion is a hotly contested topic among contemporary White supremacists in the US. It is not uncommon for members within a single organization to adhere to a wide range of faiths. While not every member of the AC network may subscribe to a racist religion, the participation of individuals in the network who adhere to CI and Creativity is notable and a cause for concern: members have the potential to influence others in their respective clubs to being more receptive to the use of violence to accomplish their aims.

Conclusion

One of the most effective strategies of the AC network has been its ability to sanitize its public image by limiting its use of overt hate symbols and outright calls for violence. However, ACs should not be taken at face value. Their outward branding as fitness clubs has enabled members to recruit, radicalize, and network with other actors in the White nationalist movement largely without fear of law enforcement intervention. In addition, while there have been relatively few instances involving AC members engaging in violence, the network has provided committed White supremacists with welcoming spaces to train and prepare for conflict. In their online posts, multiple AC members examined in this Dispatch alluded to the fact that they are biding their time until political conditions in the US deteriorate to unsustainable levels. In such a scenario, the AC network could pose a significant threat to public safety should its members decide to collectively mobilize around enacting their White supremacist vision for the nation.

ISD’s findings show how some US-based AC members desire to commit violence against their perceived enemies: a departure from ACs’ carefully tailored public messaging. Existing research on ACs has largely focused on the wider network without delving deeper into the beliefs and rhetoric of its individual members. Although not exhaustive, the posts reveal that at least some AC members view the use of offensive violence as an acceptable strategy to accomplish their political objectives. Opportunities for future research could explore how future AC violence may manifest, as well as the network’s most likely targets.