Dangerous Organizations and Bad Actors: Feuerkrieg Division
| by CTEC
Introduction
Feuerkrieg Division (FKD) is an international neo-Nazi organization that promotes accelerationism, extreme white supremacist ideology, and Siege Culture. The group aims to create a white ethnostate through the violent destruction of “the system” and modern society. To hasten the collapse of society and further their white supremacist, militant accelerationist agenda, FKD members are encouraged to prepare for and bring about the “race war.” While FKD activity largely exists online—where the bulk of recruitment and indoctrination occurs—the organization also engages in leafleting efforts to spread their racist and anti-Semitic ideology, and urges members to commit violent activities to further the group’s goals. Across North America and Europe, members have openly called for mass shootings and been arrested for planning terrorist attacks.
FKD directly claims to be a “spin-off” of Atomwaffen Division, a prominent international neofascist group allegedly linked to five murders in the United States. The two groups reportedly have shared members and are both considered to be “Siegist” organizations. Founded in 2018 by a 13-year-old boy (a.k.a. Commander) from Estonia, FKD has since expanded to other parts of Europe and North America, notably with targeted efforts to recruit members in the United States. FKD membership has remained relatively small, with under 100 members during their peak in 2018 and 2019, and is largely comprised of youths. The group claimed to officially disband in February 2020, however, it resurfaced in May 2021 on the messaging app Telegram. FKD has since revitalized its presence in the Baltic states and other European countries and announced that it has formed ties with InJekt Division, a neo-Nazi group based in the United States.
Ideology
Like many neo-fascist accelerationist groups, FKD members believe that the current political and cultural “system” is corrupted and “controlled by Jews,” and advocate for violence and sacrifice as a means to bring down and “fix” society. Through total systemic destruction, the group aims to create a whites-only ethnostate and “reset” the “degenerate” cultural values that they believe Jews have instilled into modern society, encouraging members to practice self-sufficiency in preparation for complete societal collapse. The rhetoric of hate and violence espoused by FKD members targets non-white and non-heteronormative communities, and carries xenophobic, anti-establishment, anti-law enforcement, and misogynistic sentiments.
Similar to Atomwaffen Division, the group’s beliefs are largely guided by the writings and teachings of James Mason, a U.S.-based neo-Nazi figure. Mason’s doctrine Siege, is a compilation of essays from his newsletter that adopt a violent, dystopian worldview that he argues can only be solved through racial terrorism and the collapse of American society to bring about National Socialism. Born out of his writings was Siege Culture, which urges followers to adopt an outlook of extreme hate and blame and embrace violence as a solution to societal problems. The ideology is grounded in fascist beliefs and draws inspiration from the actions and teachings of Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson. Siege Culture has also been adopted by other extreme white supremacist organizations such as The Base and Sonnenkrieg Division, with FKD identifying members of said groups as “comrades.”
FKD preaches a glorified view of violence, with some members calling their mission the “white jihad.” Sacrifice is embraced by members as an honorable way to serve their violent mission. Like many in the extreme Right, white supremacist figures are honored by FKD members as “Saints” within the community and their acts of violence are celebrated. FKD openly encourages their members to commit mass shootings and attacks on civilians, which they believe contributes to sparking their desired “race war.” Propaganda such as “Hail Saint Bowers and Saint Tarrant! Join Feuerkrieg Division!” and “Hitler or Hell” are asserted on FKD fliers, referencing the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, the Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant, and Adolf Hitler. The group is critical of other alt-right and white supremacist groups who take optics and public perception into account, believing that it hinders the movement’s ability to make change and preferring to fully embrace violence as a tactic achieve their goals.
Some members of FKD also subscribe to Esoteric Hitlerism, an ideology founded on the belief that Adolf Hitler was an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, whose role is to bring balance to the world. Core tenets of the ideology follow beliefs preached by Savitri Devi (a.k.a. Hitler’s Priestess), a Nazi sympathizer and spy for the Axis powers during World War II. Considered a neofascist icon, Devi is a key ideological figure in the militant accelerationism movement and the Traditionalism school of thought. Devi’s literature inspires accelerationist and neo-Nazi groups to this day. A quote by Devi is featured on the FKD Gab bio: “Creation and destruction are one, to the eyes who can see beauty.”
Membership
A relatively small organization, FKD had around 30 members in 2018 had no more than 100 members during its peak activity period in 2019. The group operates in more than 12 countries, exhibiting a strong presence in the Baltic states. After reportedly disbanding in early 2020, FKD has started recruiting members again in Europe and the United States in 2021. Digital and physical recruiting posters have since been spotted in European countries such as Estonia and Bulgaria. Recruiting activity has also been found online on Telegram.
To join FKD membership, applicants are required to put up propaganda posters and send photos to the group’s leader. Members are also required to read James Mason’s Siege as part of the indoctrination process into the neofascist worldview.
FKD targets teenagers for recruitment and focuses its efforts on encrypted messaging apps, resulting in many members being minors and considered relatively young. Teenagers and minors are reportedly targeted by FKD for recruitment because of their access to schools for shootings and propaganda vandalism. Adult members are also attracted to join FKD and contribute to the group by distributing information about home-made explosives, and have been found planning larger-scale attacks in the U.S. and other European countries.
Propaganda
FKD actively promotes their ideology through propaganda materials online and through physical distribution. Propaganda produced by the group appears in the form of videos, images, texts, and messaging on social networks as well as on physical promotion materials. Online, members disseminate propaganda materials and engage in conversations that spread FKD’s neofascist accelerationist ideology. In leaked chat transcripts, FKD members engaged in conversations propagating the use of racial slurs, violence against people of color and Jews, advice on making weapons at home, and plans about surviving and fighting “the war.” Content spread by group members has been found on services such as Telegram, Wire, Gab, and 8chan.
Members are also encouraged to put up physical fliers and posters in their local areas. These have been found across Europe and the United States, and are often adorned with violent anti-Semitic imagery and messages as well as FKD contact information, such as their ProtonMail addresses and Gab channel name. Some messages and slogans used in FKD propaganda materials include: “Strive for the Collapse,” “Kill the Kikes, Save the Whites,” “We are at War,” and “We are the Warriors of Light Shrouded by Darkness.”
The iconography used by FKD harkens to neo-Nazi and white supremacist symbols, including swastikas, sonnenrads (a.k.a. Black Sun), Totenkopfs (a.k.a. Death’s Head, or the skull-and-crossbones symbol), the numbers 88 (i.e. a numerical code for Heil Hitler), Nazi SS bolts, and Nazi flags. Members are often photographed giving the Nazi salute with skull masks or photoshopped Totenkopfs obscuring their faces.
Arrests/Plots/Attacks
In Europe and the United States, FKD members have issued threats and been arrested for plotting terrorist attacks, targeting symbolic and ideological figures, law enforcement, as well as minority groups (primarily Jews, African-Americans, and the LGBTQ+ community).
In September 2019, a 16-year-old FKD member who went by the username “DV” was arrested on terrorism charges by the police in the United Kingdom. In response to this arrest, the British FKD cell (a.k.a FKD_GB) posted a violent image of a gun pointed at the head of a senior police officer with the words “race traitor” across his eyes, as well as a list of police buildings encouraging supporters to attack the locations. This cell was started by a 14-year-old boy from Cornwall in June 2019. The 14-year-old was arrested later that year and pleaded guilty to possession and dissemination of terrorist material. Police found a Nazi flag in his home and investigations revealed that he had been collecting information on how to make explosives and weapons, as well as posting violent messages online about people of color, Jews, and the LGBTQ+ community. As of 2020, there were three ongoing counterterrorism-related prosecution cases with links to FKD in the United Kingdom.
In 2019, 21-year-old Gediminas Beržinskas, was convicted and jailed for leaving a bomb, which failed to detonate, in the Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius. He was found guilty of illegal possession of explosives and a firearm and plotting an act of terrorism.
In early 2020, 23-year-old Fabian D. (a.k.a. Heydrich) from Germany was arrested and sentenced to prison for plotting an attack on a mosque or synagogue. The German was reportedly a leading figure in FKD’s German cell.
On New Year’s Day in 2020, Noah Licul (a.k.a. Buntovnik), a teenage Croatian FKD member, discussed plans online to burn down a Jewish institution. The boy asserted that a plot was in motion for FKD to collaborate with multiple organizations on the attack, and that their role would be “storming in and setting it on fire.” Licul was accepted into FKD in 2019 after emailing the group about joining. In January 2020, Licul was arrested for vandalizing a WWII memorial for Croatian antifascist fighters.
In February 2020, 24-year-old Conor Climo, an American member of FKD, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of an unregistered firearm after an FBI investigation into his alleged plan to firebomb a Las Vegas synagogue and attack a Las Vegas LGBTQ+ bar. Law enforcement began investigations after discovering his communications with other FKD members on Wire, an online messaging platform with end-to-end encryption. Climo admitted the plans to an FBI source, saying that he planned to utilize explosives or snipers in these attacks, in addition to a plot to attack a local Anti-Defamation League (ADL) office. When questioned by FBI agents, Climo expressed his hatred towards Black, Jewish, and LGBTQ+ people and asserted that he joined FKD because it “offered him glory and the ability to contribute his knowledge of constructing explosive devices toward a ‘righteous’ cause.” In retaliation to Climo’s admission of guilt and information, FKD members designated him as a “traitor” and posted violent images of Climo being hanged with captions such as “if I had but one bullet and were faced by both an enemy and a traitor, I would let the traitor have it.”
In February 2020, another American FKD member in his early 20s, U.S. Army soldier Jarrett William Smith (a.k.a. Anti-Kosmik), pleaded guilty to charges that he shared information online regarding explosives, weapons, and other destructive devices. Smith was based in Fort Bliss, Texas and Fort Riley, Kansas during this time. According to an official FBI affidavit related to the case, Smith discussed plans to attack CNN offices with a car bomb and a plot to assassinate Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke. Smith told FBI agents that he aimed to create societal chaos with his attacks. Smith also revealed that he had planned to join Ukrainian far-right paramilitary group the Azov Regiment once his Army contract ended. FKD members expressed their “consternation” regarding Smith’s arrest in an online Telegram post laden with obscenities.
Conclusion
Despite their low membership numbers, FKD holds and perpetuates more militant and violent views compared to other white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations. Part of the neofascist accelerationist movement, FKD members see extreme violence as the key to dismantling “the system.” As a result, the group has drawn the attention of governments across Europe and North America. In July 2020, FKD was designated as a terrorist group and banned in the United Kingdom. FKD is also proscribed in Australia and Canada. As of July 2021, the United States has yet to follow suit, with Representative Elissa Slotkin urging the U.S. government in April 2021 to designate FKD along with a dozen other foreign neo-Nazi groups as terrorist organizations.
A partnership between FKD and InJekt Division was announced in 2021 on Telegram. InJekt Division is a neofascist organization founded in Texas by Coleman Thomas Blevins, who was arrested in May 2021 for reportedly planning a mass shooting at a Walmart. FKD has risen as a leader in militant accelerationist coalition building, using their network with InJekt Division to help establish the United Acceleration Front and National Socialist Coalition. The two coalitions emerged on Telegram in early 2021, providing a space for online organizing, propaganda dissemination, and identity formation. The creation of accelerationist coalitions such as these pose a threat of inciting real world organized violence and illustrates the networked nature of the real world threat from militant accelerationism.