White nationalist terrorism - Neo-Nazi terror group steps up US operations as FBI pulls back

Amid high-profile arrests in its Spanish cell, the American-born and designated neo-Nazi terrorist group the Base – once a major preoccupation of FBI counter-terrorism efforts – has all but faded from US headlines. But a flurry of online activities shows the group is still active stateside and considers the US an operational nerve center.

Headed by Rinaldo Nazzaro, an ex-Pentagon contractor turned alleged Russian intelligence asset, the Base has been busy of late pursuing European expansion: besides its heavily armed members in Spain, its Ukrainian wing is linked to multiple acts of terrorism inside the country and claimed the high-profile July assassination of an intelligence officer in Kyiv.

But the Base’s online footprint also paints a picture of a more careful, yet active, American presence: videos from November show masked men shooting military-style rifles and pistols in what they claim is an Appalachian forest.

In the shifting political climate of the second Trump administration, where the FBI has openly rerouted resources away from investigations of far-right extremists, the Base appears free to organize and prepare for their stated objective of fomenting an armed insurgency against the US government.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/22/neo-nazi-terror-the-base