THE DARK SIDE

Tapes Show Neo-Nazi Group The Base Attempting to Recruit U.S. Military Members, Says Report

The leader of The Base group, Rinaldo Nazzaro, was born in the U.S., but reportedly runs the group from his apartment in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Secret recordings of a militant neo-Nazi group show it has targeted former and active-duty U.S. military personnel to join its ranks and prepare for what it believes is society’s imminent collapse, according to a report from NBC News. The network was handed the tapes by the hate-group monitor Southern Poverty Law Center. They reportedly contain calls between the leader of a neo-Nazi organization called The Base and more than 100 potential recruits—a fifth of whom were active-duty military or had served in the U.S. military in some capacity. The leader of The Base, Rinaldo Nazzaro, was born in the U.S., but reportedly runs the group from his apartment in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was previously reported that Nazzaro once worked with U.S. Special Forces on fighting counterterrorism and was paid by the Pentagon as a contractor.