With the latest arrest of two men alleged to be part of the Active Club and former members of the Atomwaffen Division, we looked at who in the workout club has connections to designated groups in Canada.
The Active Club, a white-only workout club founded by an American neo-Nazi, boasts branches across North America and Europe. In Canada, the network’s known membership has included at least four members previously in designated terrorist groups.
The announcement of the arrest of two Ontario-based Active Club members, Matthew Althorpe and Kristopher Nippak, on a series of terror charges last week has been significant in many ways. Most important has been the allegation that Althorpe is one of the authors of a series of publications from the “Terrorgram Collective.”
Terrorgram is a group of digital content creators espousing a violent National Socialist and accelerationist ideology. The collective’s publications not only urge people towards taking violent action, they provide readers with instructions on how to pick targets, prepare for action, and how to hide online from those who would seek to expose them.
Nippak was recently identified as a major player in boosting Active Club Canada in an exposé by Vice World News’ Mack Lamoureux. A recidivistic networker online and in person for white nationalism, posts from the group’s Telegram channel, and a personal channel mainly used for Nippak’s political musings, alleges a self-funded trip across Europe meeting with other branches of the Active Club as well as other white nationalist groups.
Althorpe, who was not previously identified, faces many more charges than his co-accused, both of whom have been charged for their alleged roles in the creation of Terrorgram “manifestos,” according to RCMP.
“After the listing, many former Atomwaffen Division members joined Active Club Canada. Members of Active Club Canada have been observed performing combat training exercises in local community parks,” law enforcement wrote in a December 8 news release.
The RCMP added that the Active Club has ties to “the Hammerskins in Durham region.”
A 2022 report by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network found that the Canadian branch of the Hammerskin Nation — the Vinland Hammerskins — served as recruiters for many of the branches of the Active Club.
The Hammerskin Nation is one of the largest, oldest and most secretive racist skinhead crews still operating. With chapters across Europe and North and South America, HSN and its feeder club, Crew 38, were banned in Germany in September.
Nippak and Althorpe remain in custody and are still taking part in a hearing to determine if they will receive bail. A publication ban prevents any reporting on the evidence presented during these proceedings. They are not the only members linked to the Active Club who previously belonged to designated groups. CAHN learned through multiple independent sources that Patrick Macdonald, also a former member of the Atomwaffen Division, attended meetings with the Ottawa Active Club.
Macdonald, under the alias Dark Foreigner, is credited with developing a lot of the aesthetic that came to be associated with Atomwaffen and what is known as “Siege Culture.” Typically images in this style are dark and brooding black-and-white images of notable serial killers and fascists alongside Nazi symbols and red splatterings of blood.
Managing to hide his identity for years, Macdonald was exposed by Vice World News as an Ottawa area graphic designer. He is currently facing his own series of terrorism charges for his role in creating propaganda for Atomwaffen. Like Nippak, Macdonald belonged to the Canadian Atomwaffen cell, Northern Order.
Another member of the Active Club Canada, a construction worker based in British Columbia named Josh Bruce, was previously reported in the media for his affiliation with the Proud Boys. He appeared in the media after claiming to be the victim of a group assault in the bathroom of a BC bar in 2017. After the incident, the bar staff were reportedly subject to online threats and harassment by Proud Boy supporters who blamed them for the assault.
The Proud Boys became a listed entity in Canada in 2021, along with Atomwaffen and The Base.