Pre-2024 Election Pro-Trump Boat Parade
Under Donald Trump’s FBI Director Kash Patel, federal attention to tracking far‑right groups has reportedly waned, enabling neo-Nazi, militia and accelerationist groups to mobilize and recruit new members more openly and easily. One of the most active of these groups is The Base, a violent paramilitary network that promotes accelerationism; a doctrine calling on followers to hasten the collapse of society through acts of terrorism.
As the Guardian recently reported, “In its early history, part of what first piqued the interest of authorities was the Base’s courting of military veterans who could help drill its foot soldiers in a series of training camps across the US. Eventually implicated in an assassination plot, mass shootings and other actions in Europe, the Base went so far as to have a fortified compound and cell in Michigan, led by a US army dropout.”
According to the Guardian, “Online evidence from its various accounts, several of which live on Russian servers to avoid censorship on American sites, shows the Base has real plans for a national gathering this summer where members intend to train in paramilitary drills as in years past.
The Counter Extremism Project reported that in mid-February, Rinaldo Nazzaro, the leader of the The Base, “released a video on a Russian video streaming platform. … [that] was labeled as an interview for the Greek chapter of the neo-Nazi skinhead group Combat 18 earlier in the month.
Nazzaro promoted The Base and accelerationism, claiming, ‘As conditions continue to deteriorate in our countries, we can potentially use that as an opportunity for us to gain power [in a specific geographic area].’
Nazzaro also praised the Atomwaffen Division (AWD) and confirmed that former AWD members are currently in The Base. Nazzaro also claimed that a member of The Base had been present at the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, but that he attended as a member of a different organization. Nazzaro criticized white supremacists who were celebrating the 2024 election of Donald Trump, repeating that there was no political solution and stating that white people could only be saved via ‘extra-constitutional’ tactics. Nazzaro concluded by encouraging Europeans to contact him on several platforms and join The Base.
Another post soliciting financial support, read: “The Base in [the] USA is preparing for an upcoming national training event. This one might be our most attended training event in [the] USA in a while. We could really use some financial support to help our members with travel expenses.”
The post continued: “When you donate money to the Base, you’re investing in a White Defense Force that’s aiming to protect white people from political persecution and physical destruction.”
The Guardian pointed out that “The Base … published a new photo of armed members claiming to be in the midwest, which follows a trend in 2025 of the group bragging about its unafraid American presence. As a sort of taunt to its enemies, on the day of Trump’s inauguration the Base released a photo of four members somewhere in Appalachia, in what was the largest number of American members in one photo in over a year
“’The upcoming national training event indicates that the group is seeking to grow and is willing to take the risk of advertising it publicly in advance,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, an analyst of far-right terrorism who has been following the Base’s movements for close to a decade. ‘The Base appears to be actively seeking to grow in the US.’”
Fisher-Birch notes that while small in numbers,
An event entails planning, coordination, travel and face-to-face meetings between different regional groups, indicating that they operate in an environment where they view the potential amount of risk as acceptable. The group has previously stated multiple times that being a member or training with them is a risky endeavor; however, planning a meetup, which they will inevitably use for propaganda purposes, is a different approach than even a year ago, when the group advertised regional activities.
The Guardian reached out to the FBI for comment and a spokesperson said it only investigates people who have or are planning to commit a federal crime and pose “a threat to national security”.
“Our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on criminal activity,” spokesperson said. “Membership in groups is not illegal in and of itself and is protected by the first amendment.”
The resurgence of groups like The Base is no coincidence. It’s happening in a political climate where monitoring far-right extremism is being downplayed, defunded, or outright ignored. Trump’s FBI has de-prioritized domestic white supremacist threats, creating a vacuum that paramilitary groups are rushing to fill. By looking away, the administration has opened the door for extremists to recruit, organize, and train with alarming speed. The danger isn’t just that these groups are growing, it’s that they’re doing so with fewer obstacles than ever.
This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.