Far-right extremist fight clubs are happening in America’s forests

Groups of men move through a dry woodland dotted with sparsely leafed trees. Some wear face coverings. Others wear grappling gloves. One has face paint smeared across his skin.

“I came out here to fight,” says a man identified as Avery Ross Ruiz, a Texan who goes by “Panzzer” and is a member of the Lone Star Active Club. “Sworn to the quest, man. It’s our duty.”

“I’m fighting for f***ing glory,” says Don, a man from the same club. Another participant, identified as Dagda from Tribal Lands, puts it more simply: “I just love to fight,” he says in a video posted to the Forest Fights USA Telegram page that racked up over 46,000 views.

‘Blood Was Shed’

The men grapple. Some fall to the ground and are pummeled with repeated punches to the head and torso. They scream out. Dagda lies on his back, panting, with what appears to be blood smeared on his white vest.

The men are willing participants in a so-called “forest fight”—an organized brawl between different Active Clubs. “Teams gathered for a weekend of violence and tribal fellowship,” Forest Fights USA wrote on Telegram. “Blood was shed, and honor was won.”

A Newsweek review of videos, Telegram channels and expert analysis found that these forest fights appear to serve as more than private brawls. Researchers say such events help far-right and white nationalist groups build camaraderie, recruit members, and create real-world networks around combat sports, even when the gatherings themselves do not obviously violate the law.

Researchers describe Active Clubs as a transnational network of far-right fitness groups promoted by the white supremacist Robert Rundo and the Russian neo-Nazi Denis Kapustin since 2020. Rundo is one of the founders of the U.S. far-right organization Rise Above Movement (RAM) and was sentenced to prison in 2024 for conspiracy to riot at California political rallies in 2017. Kapustin is a far-right figure who runs the Russian Volunteer Corps and has been described by German authorities as “an influential neo-Nazi activist.”

Physical Fitness Crucial

The decentralized groups, which are present in at least 34 states, engage in physical training and post white nationalist propaganda, according to the Counter Extremism Project.

According to the advocacy group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), combat sport clubs have been used to boost recruitment to the Patriot Front, which was formed by Thomas Rousseau in September 2017 following the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and has been designated as a hate group by the SPLC.

In a video explaining the purpose of fight clubs shared on Telegram, Rousseau said: “Fitness and martial arts are a crucial aspect of the organization’s patriotic culture for a multitude of reasons. It’s a civic duty for the men of the nation to be prepared to seize opportunity and survive emergency.”

Active Clubs post about news stories, share quotes from Hitler, and images from their training days.

Not Illegal Activity

There is no suggestion that attending these events is inherently illegal, or that every participant is motivated by extremist ideology.

Jacob Wagner, a digital research analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said the likelihood of violence occurring at one of the fight competitions was “minimal”.

He said: “Law enforcement may be reluctant to take significant action against these competitions unless they have evidence that members are clearly engaging in criminal or illegal activity.”

But Alexandria Olsen, an analyst with the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, told Newsweek: “Law enforcement should be aware of when and where large-scale extremist gatherings occur. While these gatherings do not inherently involve illegal activity, the presence of hate and extremism can negatively impact the community and disrupt their sense of safety.”

A Department of Justice spokesperson told Newsweek: “Political violence has no place in this country, and this Department of Justice will investigate, identify, and root out any individual or violent extremist group attempting to commit or promote this heinous activity.”

But the FBI told Newsweek: “The FBI has no comment on the specifics of your inquiry. The FBI focuses on individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security. We can never open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity.”

Photos and videos circulated on Active Club Telegram pages appear to show that Patriot Front organized a private combat-sports event in South Carolina in March, billed as an “American Muscle” tournament.

According to the Counter Extremism Project, the event was held March 28 and 29 at a clothing store called Dixie Republic in Travelers Rest, South Carolina.

Newsweek reached out to Patriot Front by website form, as well as the Travelers Rest Police Department and Dixie Republic to comment on this story, but received no comment.

Synthesis of Physicality and Culture

“Sport is a synthesis of physicality and culture,” said one of the group’s Telegram posts about the event.

“Events such as this encourage masculine vitality, and offer athletes a chance to test themselves and be recognized within a nationalist community. Patriot Front is dedicated to the reconquest of the nation, which includes building spaces of culture that uphold and foster the merit of the men that will stand as examples to future generations of patriots.”

Photos that circulated on social media showed men in boxing gloves fighting in a ring. One showed a woman at a stall showcasing goods from Above Time Coffee, which describes itself as “the first and only pro-White coffee company in the U.S” and has reportedly been accused of using Nazi-aligned imagery on its packaging.

Another showed people whose faces were blurred playing musical instruments and singing into a microphone. Newsweek reached out to Above Time Coffee by email to comment on this story.

Street Fight Club, which is reportedly linked to a Russian street fighting organization that promotes neo-Nazi and white supremacist symbols, also circulated videos from the event and said that its members attended the activities.

When they are not organizing fights, members of Active Clubs keep in touch via Telegram chats where they share updates about their activities.

On Monday, the Ohio Nationalist Network posted a photo of Adolf Hitler on its Telegram page alongside a quote from a speech by the Nazi leader advocating “struggle and fight.” The image was viewed 196 times and 30 people sent fire emoji reactions in an apparent endorsement of the post. Newsweek reached out to the Ohio Nationalist Network by Telegram.

Active Club members also discuss current affairs. Posts by Wyoming Active Club show posters of Iryna Zarutska, the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee whose death caused a national outcry, affixed to poles and other outdoor locations.

Zarutska was stabbed on a train on August 22, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina and videos of the stabbing circulated on social media.

She was pronounced dead at the scene, and Decarlos Brown Jr. was charged with her murder. The group also posted photos warning against “employing illegal migrant labor” and urging against “wars for Israel.”

Another recent Telegram post by Wyoming Active Club showed a photo of eight people gathered in Laramie, a city in southeastern Wyoming for what it billed as “a training meet and cardio day.” The faces of the individuals were blurred. A quotation under the photo read: “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”

Newsweek did not receive a response when it reached out to Wyoming Active Club via Telegram to comment on this story but appeared to be removed from the Telegram group.

A Telegram post shared by the Lone Star Active Club showed members of the group had put up posters advertising the group on a wall in Fort Stockton, Texas promising to “crush the left.”

One poster read: “You are hated, train like it.” Other posters advertised Patriot Front, demonstrating the link between recruitment for the far-right movement and active clubs. At time of writing it had been viewed over 600 times. Newsweek contacted the City of Fort Stockton Police Department by email and Lone Star Active Club via Telegram to comment on this story.

A Growing Threat

The Ohio Nationalist Network recently posted an image showing they participated in a grocery drive, sponsored by vendor Pepper Cave, which was previously suspended from a farmer’s market over reported allegations of antisemitic social media activity. Newsweek reached out to Pepper Cave by email to comment on this story.

It comes after the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) found that the number of Active Clubs in the U.S. has increased from 49 in October 2023 to 78 in June 2025, a 59.2 percent increase.

Of these, GPAHE found that at least 19 clubs in 42 states target teen boys aged 15 to 18. Some of these groups posted neo-Nazi propaganda on social media, as seen by GPAHE.

Globally, the number of Active Clubs increased by 25 percent between 2023 and 2025, according to GPAHE research, which said 187 chapters of the movement were operating across 27 countries in June 2025.

It warned of an “explosion” in the number of Active Clubs in the U.S. and other countries, calling the rise of the groups a “growing transnational threat.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League, there were more than 750 white supremacist incidents between 2020 and 2024. The group said there were 282 events organized or attended by white supremacists in 2023, a 63 percent increase from 173 in 2022.

While there is no suggestion that all Active Club participants are involved in violent extremism, data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies illustrates the broader threat posed by right-wing extremist violence in the U.S. Its analysis shows right-wing extremists killed 112 people in 152 attacks across the U.S. between 2016 and 2025.

International Expansion

There are also signs the U.S. Active Clubs are collaborating with extremist groups in Canada. Second Sons Canada, an Active Club group, has met with both the Lone Star Active Club in Dallas and the Great Lakes Active Clubs ahead of their participation in the American Muscle event, posts and photos on Telegram revealed.

“The international brotherhood that was established this weekend serves as a reminder that our ideas cannot and will not be subdued,” read one post on Telegram.

Wendy Via, co-founder of GPAHE, told Newsweek the movement is transnational, with allied chapters and groups across the Western world.

“They are connected and building networks that do not limit themselves by borders,” she said. “There needs to be international community and institutional efforts to stop the potentially violent far right from spreading its message, particularly on social media, and attracting new members.”

A Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CS) spokesperson said that while CSIS may investigate in instances where ideologically-motivated groups engage in activities that pose a threat to the security of Canada  it “is precluded by law from investigating lawful advocacy, protest or dissent. Not all activities associated with ideologically-motivated groups meet the threshold for CSIS investigations, including other potentially illegal activities, which can be appropriately addressed by law enforcement.”

 “Given the need to protect our sources, tradecraft, and methods however, we cannot confirm or deny any investigative or security details related to such groups.”

Active Club activity looks set to grow. According to a post to the Forest Fights USA Telegram page, another fight is scheduled to take place in May in Pennsylvania, although its location has not been disclosed. Wagner said that can make it harder for law enforcement to monitor or prepare for such events.

Wagner told Newsweek: “One major hurdle law enforcement officials face in preparing for these events is that the clubs rarely advertise the locations of their private events ahead of time. The exact location is often only transmitted to vetted participants shortly before the event is set to take place, frustrating monitoring or disruption attempts by law enforcement.”

Meanwhile, in a Telegram post seen by the Counter Extremism Project, Rundo revealed future plans for Active Clubs. “2026 is the year we solidify everything we gained,” he said. “We become the infrastructure. We need real-world roots; nationalist-owned businesses, housing, gyms, private events, the whole network.”

Rundo also wrote in a recent blog post: “These events are a tip off point for a fascist cultural revolution, its [sic] is the first step in building our own parallel system. You dont [sic] need to be a master class fighter in this but no matter what you will need brothers around you and this is how you find them. Join a [sic] active club near you.”