Could neo-Nazi youth, or 'active clubs,' have played a role in Belfast riots?

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Europe Could neo-Nazi youth, or 'active clubs,' have played a role in Belfast riots? June 29, 20265:00 AM ET Odette Yousef Youths gather in front of a burning barricade on Duncairn Gardens on June 9 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Charles McQuillan/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly.

The violence that drove scores of ethnic minorities from their homes earlier this month in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has drawn attention from those who study violent extremism in the U. The disorder followed the grisly stabbing of 44-year-old Stephen Ogilvie on June 8, caught on video and widely circulated on social media, by a 30-year old Sudanese man who was seeking asylum in the UK. The victim survived, but was seriously injured; the alleged perpetrator has been charged with attempted murder.

The Details

The stabbing set off unruly protests, in which masked, anti-immigrant mobs set fire to vehicles and homes in predominantly ethnic minority neighborhoods. Sponsor Message National Security 'Active club' hate groups are growing in the U. — and making themselves seen Now, there are questions about how participants organized so quickly, and whether a network of neo-Nazi youth groups, called "active clubs," played a role.

"Effectively, they saw their model in action," said Michael Colborne, journalist and researcher for Bellingcat, an investigative journalism group based in the Netherlands. "They saw masked young men committing political violence and in a model that they … would actually further like to emulate themselves. " Active clubs have been on the rise in recent years across Western Europe and the U.

Organized locally but with well established transnational ties through digital platforms and conferences, they structure their activities around a shared interest in mixed martial arts training. "The whole point of participating in combat sports for them isn't like it is for most other people who might want to just go get fit, taking a kickboxing class or learning self-defense or bettering themselves," said Colborne. "Their interest in combat sports is explicitly about preparing for political violence.

What Experts Say

" A social media flurry on active club accounts that preceded and followed the unrest in Belfast has spurred reporting in Wired that they may have helped to orchestrate or instigate the attacks. If true, this would represent a significant escalation in those groups' public activities. But those claims are eliciting skepticism from observers who are familiar with the particulars of Northern Ireland's political history, social infrastructure and increasingly violent anti-immigrant sentiment across the UK.

Sponsor Message "Unfortunately, the UK is somewhat of a tinderbox at the moment," said Sid Venkataramakrishnan, analyst and editorial manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit organization that tracks and counters extremism.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.