The Active Club Network
- Founded
- 2020
- Status
- Active
The nationwide network of Active Clubs was inspired by white nationalist activist Robert Rundo in 2020, when he began co-hosting the Active Club Podcast with Russian-German white nationalist Denis Kapustin (a.k.a. Denis Nikitin). Rundo and Kapustin encouraged their listeners to start their own local Active Clubs, which would combine MMA-style training with the broader white nationalist agenda. Kapustin has since denounced some white nationalist ideas such as glorification of Hitler while describing himself as a traditionalist and right-winger, but Rundo remained loyal to the cause, and in 2024 pled guilty to plotting violence at political rallies. Today’s Active Club network appears to continue its activities without direct input from Rundo, operating on a localized basis in communities across the United States and Canada. Patriot Front, a white nationalist organization started by Thomas Ryan Rousseau following a deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, VA, is enmeshed with the Active Club network and appears to be using it to bolster its ranks. For example, in October of 2025, the Lone Star Active Club posted training content from Texas:
The content was crossposted from the same location by the Patriot Front Updates Telegram account:
The comingling of Patriot Front and the Active Club network is not limited to Texas. For example, in September of 2025, Patriot Front members joined the members of SoCal Active Club during a demonstration ostensibly meant to honor murder victims Charlie Kirk and Iryna Zarutska in Huntington Beach, CA:
Together with Patriot Front, the Active Club network specializes in co-opting violent events and natural disasters for its white nationalist agenda, as was the case in Kerr County, Texas, following the devastating floods of July 2025:
While marketing themselves to a homegrown audience, North American Active Clubs also seek out allies and inspiration abroad, including in countries such as Britain, Australia, and the Russian Federation. For example, the Arizona Active Club promotes news from Australian and Russian nationalist communities to a local audience in order to effectively plug them into a global network of white nationalists:
By making an emphasis on physical activity, the need to engage their communities, and the need to connect to the wider world, the Active Club network aims to appeal to young men seeking purpose and direction in their lives – in doing so, it seeks to capture their minds in order to feed a steady drip of hatred and paranoia.
Greater resources should be committed to monitoring the loosely affiliated Active Club networks in light of their strategic goal to co-opt and subvert a generation of young men and make them the tools of antisemitism, bigotry, and hate.
Key Members of the Active Club Network include:
ROBERT PAUL RUNDO
One of the original founders of the Active Club network and a former resident of Huntington Beach. In 2023, he was extradited from Romania on charges of planning and engaging in rioting in the state of California. In 2024, pleaded guilty to the charges in exchange for a lighter sentence. Current whereabouts are unclear.
THOMAS RYAN ROUSSEAU
A native of Texas and founder of white nationalist group Patriot Front, which regularly recruits from and trains with Active Club members. Currently resides in the suburbs of Dallas.
SEAN KAUFFMANN
Leader of the Tennessee Active Club and one of the few Active Club members who prefers to show his face on camera. Kauffmann has been alleged to have Jewish ancestry on his mother’s side, yet regularly espouses pro-Nazi rhetoric and claims to be heavily armed.