The son is said to have participated in activities with Active Club Sweden during the past year, according to Expo. Forssell has stated that he has spoken with his son and that "all contact in these circles is a closed chapter”.
+ What do the Security Service and the police say?
As recently as June, the Security Service warned that young people are at risk of being drawn into the right-wing extremist clubs. In an Ekot interview, the Security Service's operational manager Fredrik Hallström said that many young people "seem to want to join the activities" and that it is something that municipalities, schools, and parents need to be aware of.
At the same time, the police warned in an intelligence report as early as autumn 2023 that Active Club Sweden "is considered to have access to weapons and explosive materials and is actively working to improve its combat capability, including through martial arts training", according to several media outlets.
+ What are active clubs?
The active clubs are part of a larger international right-wing extremist movement, with a focus on strength training and martial arts. The concept has spread quickly and is now found in at least 20 countries with over 100 groups globally and in most American states, according to the organization The Counter Extremism Project.
The network is inspired by the conspiracy theory of a so-called population exchange and wants to see a strengthened "racial awareness" among whites. A warrior ideal is advocated, and members are encouraged to prepare for an impending racial war, according to a report from American extremist researchers in Just Security. The basis for physical training has been influenced by the founder Robert Rundo's time in nationalist combat sports movements in Europe.
The network denies being Nazi, in line with Rundo's calls for a softer appearance to attract new members. However, several Swedish active club accounts on social media openly express Nazi sympathies, according to Expo, which is in line with the Nazism that characterizes the international movement.
+ Where does it come from?
Active Club Sweden can be traced back to American Robert Rundo, who in 2017 founded the white power group Rise Above Movement (RAM) in southern California. The right-wing extremist RAM was clearly focused on violence and street fighting with the aim of attacking ideological opponents at political gatherings, according to American Propublica.
Rundo later developed RAM into the Active Club concept, which he came to describe as "white power 3.0". The ideas behind it reflect a larger trend within the white power movement, with less centralization and local cells that act according to the overall goals but also follow their own ideas locally.
+ How widespread is it in Sweden?
In Sweden, the movement gained a foothold in 2023 with the network Active Club Sweden, which functions as an umbrella organization for local clubs. According to Expo's annual report for 2024, five groups from Skåne to Hälsingland are part of Active Club Sweden. The number of activities registered by Expo increased sharply last year.
In Sweden, the clubs can be linked to several violent incidents, including attacks on people during Pride in Stockholm last summer and a major brawl at a football match in the Stockholm suburb of Aspudden this year, according to Dagens ETC and Aftonbladet.
An Expo investigation last year showed that over half of the nearly 80 identified individuals in the environment were convicted, including for weapons offenses, incitement against a ethnic group, and violent riot.
