How white supremacist fight clubs are building covert far-right militias

White supremacist groups using the guise of fitness and martial arts to attract and grow their numbers are effectively creating a new militia network, with dozens of chapters forming in the US, Canada and across Europe within just three years, according to a newly published report from extremism researchers.

At least 46 so-called “active clubs” – which publicly promote “brotherhood” and training in combat sports and fitness while covertly advancing fascist and neo-Nazi agendas and preparing for large-scale violence – have sprouted in 34 states between 2020 and 2023, according to the report from the Counter Extremism Project.

That relatively rapid growth is alarming researchers who have closely tracked the explosion in far-right extremism and white supremacist movements in recent years, parallel to a surge in threats of political violence and violences towards marginalised groups.

Read more: Independent