Aryan Strikeforce (ASF) is a

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

group. Established in the United Kingdom by white supremacist Ian Davison, ASF was estimated to have 350 members online in 2010. It was designated as a terrorist organisation by Canada in 2021. According to the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...

, ASF is linked to the neo-Nazi terrorist group

Combat 18 Combat 18 (C18 or 318) is a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation that was founded in 1992. It originated in the United Kingdom with ties to movements in Canada and the United States. Since then, it has spread to other countries, including Germany. C ...

, itself an offshoot of

Blood & Honour Blood & Honour is a Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi music promotion network and right-wing extremist political group founded in the United Kingdom by Ian Stuart Donaldson in 1987. It is composed of White nationalism, white nationalists and has links to C ...

, which was founded in the U.K. in the early 1990s.

United Kingdom

English white supremacist Ian Davison founded the group in the United Kingdom. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported in 2010 that the group had around 350 members online. In December 2009, two men who were said to be "administrators" of the group's website appeared in the

City of Westminster Magistrates' Court The City of Westminster Magistrates' Court was a magistrates' court located at 70 Horseferry Road, in the City of Westminster, London. It was originally called Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court, after the road in which it was sited.Her Majesty ...

in London accused of

inciting racial hatred Incitement to ethnic or racial hatred is a crime under the laws of several countries. Australia In Australia, the Racial Hatred Act 1995 amends the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, inserting Part IIA – Offensive Behaviour Because of Race, Colour ...

, after they used the website to post

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

content encouraging others to kill Jews. In April 2010, Davison's son, Nicky, of

county Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England, joined the group to please his father and was later convicted on three charges of terrorism. ''The Guardian'' reported that he had used the group's website to threaten to overthrow the " Zionist Occupied Government".

United States

Joshua Michael Steever of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, U.S., founded the U.S. chapter in 2013 after he was ousted from Aryan Terror Brigade, another white supremacist group. A man associated with the group since 2014, Cameron Anthony, was arrested in June 2017 after threatening a Latino man with a baseball bat, while shouting "

White power White pride and white power are expressions primarily used by white separatist, white nationalist, fascist, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist organizations in order to signal racist or racialist viewpoints. It is also a slogan used by the promi ...

!", at a rally in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

. Eight months before his arrest, at least eight people have been arrested on varying charges, including money laundering and illegal weapons possession, including an October 2016 arrest of Ronald Pulcher II, from Galeton, Pennsylvania, who was ASF's self-described "

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland () was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. The name appears in the V ...

Division President". Around 2018, 4 members pleaded guilty, one of which was vice president Steven D. Davis. Davis pleaded guilty at the U.S. Middle District Court in Pennsylvania for his involvement in a scheme to transport weapons and drugs over state lines. The other members, Henry Lambert Baird, Joshua Michael Steever and Connor Drew Dikes, were all involved of transporting

crystal meth Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational or performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity d ...

and weapons from Pennsylvania to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Also in 2018, the

National Socialist Movement Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and ASF held a "white unity meeting" in

Ulysses, Pennsylvania Ulysses is a borough in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 600 at the 2020 census. The borough is located in a rural farming and forested area in north central Pennsylvania, which is known as the Pennsylvania Wild ...

, to discuss their response to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's presidency and plan joint action.

Canada

ASF and other far-right groups and figures active in Canada were banned from having a presence on Facebook in 2019, following criticism of the platform for its refusal to remove a post by white nationalist Faith Goldy. The group was designated as a terrorist organisation by the Canadian government following the

January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...

in 2021.

References

{{Neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism in Canada Neo-Nazi organizations in the United States Neo-Nazi organisations in the United Kingdom Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada Neo-fascist terrorism