CounterPoint Brief: EU Arrests Members of Newly-Designated Terrorist Group The Base

For Immediate Release Friday, September 6, 2024

(New York, N.Y.) – This week saw the arrests of five young men in Europe—two in Italy and three in the Netherlands, including a 16-year-old boy, who stand accused of membership in “The Base”—a neo-Nazi white supremacist network that was designated as a terrorist group by the European Union on July 26, 2024. In the Netherlands, which sanctioned the group as a terrorist organization in January, the suspects (aged 16, 18, and 26) are accused of incitement to terrorism, as they reportedly encouraged terrorist acts in online chats.

The Base currently or formerly has claimed to have members in Europe, North America, Australia, and South Africa.  The group was founded in the U.S. by Rinaldo Nazzaro (a.k.a. Roman Wolf, a.k.a. Norman Spear) in 2018. An accelerationist group, The Base believes that societal collapse and the weakening or dissolution of government are necessary factors to incite a race war and form a white ethno-state. The group’s ideology is inspired by the book “Siege,” written by the American neo-Nazi James Mason.

Already listed as a terrorist group in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, members of The Base now face a travel ban and asset freeze in Europe, while EU citizens are prohibited from providing financial support. 

Expert Analysis: 

CEP Researcher and Content Review Specialist Joshua Fisher-Birch

“The European Union’s listing of The Base as a terrorist organization, and the subsequent arrests in Europe, highlight the risk that white supremacist accelerationist groups and movements pose to public safety. The Base has sought to recruit in Europe and the United States. In 2024, the group posted photos of their members or propaganda activities allegedly in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, and Ukraine, in addition to several regions in the U.S. The group’s founder, Rinaldo Nazzaro, still offers advice and issues directives online from Russia. In response to the EU listing in July, the Base declared that this was a test of their member’s determination and urged them to continue their activities.”

CEP Resources:

To read CEPs Group Report on The Base, click here.

To read CEP’s Report on White Supremacy Groups in the United States, click here.

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Fact:

On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers. 

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