Combat sport clubs used to recruit for white nationalist hate group, report says

Combat sport clubs have been used to boost recruitment for a white nationalist hate group, according to a report released by the legal advocacy organization Southern Poverty Law Center.

The report tracks the efforts of the Patriot Front — one of the most visible groups in the white nationalist movement, formed following the deadly 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 — and their focus on recruiting new members through Active Clubs.

These clubs are smaller, looser networks of white supremacist groups, where members train in mixed martial arts. Through sport, they bond over white nationalist ideologies, SPLC said. The clubs also maintain a robust online presence to encourage young men to become radicalized. Patriot Front is using these groups to expand their reach while maintaining a low profile, the report said, to evade researchers and law enforcement.

"It serves as a way to hide some of the Patriot Front's movements," said Jeff Tischauser, the SPLC report's author and a researcher at the not-for-profit legal advocacy organization.

Patriot Front and other white nationalist groups are fueling the expansion of extremist groups in the U.S. – and control at least a dozen clubs nationwide. Since 2023, there has been a 14% increase in hate groups, according to the SPLC, which says it tracks 1,430 hate and antigovernment groups across the country.

Active Clubs have had a presence since 2023 in at least 34 states, including Arizona, California, Ohio, Kansas, Montana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Florida, according to the Counter Extremism Project. The groups host training sessions, create propaganda videos and participate in demonstrations and flash rallies, according to experts. They push male supremacy ideology, share workout selfies and encourage each other to reach peak physicality in preparation for marches or possible future conflicts, experts say.

Robert Rundo, the founder of a white supremacist group based in Southern California, is credited with introducing the idea of Active Clubs, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In 2021, Rundo began hosting a podcast called "Active Club Podcast," where he and his co-host encouraged listeners to establish their own clubs. He hawked what he called "white nationalism 3.0" — a more local, decentralized approach to the white nationalist movement.

Rundo was arrested in Romania in 2023 after the U.S. requested his extradition on federal rioting charges. He was sentenced to two years and effectively received a time-served sentence, being released in December 2024.

The shift to "white nationalism 3.0" is similar to leaderless resistance concepts across the far right ecosystem, said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

"I think a lot of these groups really function more like brands," he said.

Audio messages and a leaked internal memo obtained by the SPLC confirmed direct affiliations between Patriot Front and certain Active Clubs. The founder of a Texas active club was berated for recruiting "non-European" members.

"Is our organization something you are totally committed to, or are you going to be the active club guy doing your own thing?" The Patriot Front member asked, according to the SPLC report.

The new recruitment method has coincided with Patriot Front's faltering brand, the SPLC says, after years of controversies stemming from various lawsuits and acts of vandalism. In January, Patriot Front was ordered to pay $2.7 million in damages to a Black musician the group attacked during a march in Boston in 2022. In February, a settlement was reached between Patriot Front and two North Dakota nonprofits over allegations that the group intimidated immigrant business owners.

Patriot Front has also faced scrutiny from within the right-wing movement. "In some sections of this larger far right, Patriot Front is branded as federal agents," Tischauser said. "So to avoid that accusation, they use Active Clubs and start trying to groom people into Patriot Front membership from there."

The conspiracy theory even gained enough traction on social media to reach Elon Musk. Last year, he posted on X, "This does seem odd. Why no mask removal after arrest?" in reaction to a post of Patriot Front members being detained, where an X user dubbed the group "Fed Front."

The conspiracy that FBI agents pose as right-wing activists goes beyond Patriot Front. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found that a quarter of Americans believe the FBI instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The FBI said in a statement to CBS News Saturday, "The FBI investigates individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and other criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security. Our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on criminal activity."

CBS News has reached out to Patriot Front's founder and leader, Thomas Rosseau, via email.

Lewis said that there has been a mainstreaming of conspiracy theories and hateful beliefs once confined to neo-Nazi forums and considered to be fringe.

"Today, you have the richest man in the world, members of Congress tweeting this out, as if it's like a real thing that's happening," Lewis said. "That just broadens out the aperture of disaffected young, predominantly white men who are looking for someone to blame, something to blame."

Since these clubs are scattered, unaffiliated entities, Patriot Front has faced challenges in its recruitment efforts.

"They want to project themselves as much larger and much more serious than they actually are," said Lewis.