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For much of the past half decade, a young, tech-savvy group that emerged from the American white nationalist movement called the “Groypers” or “Groyper Army” has worked to infiltrate and/or undermine right-wing movements they feel aren’t extreme enough. The Groypers made their bones on platforms filled with hate content, like 4chan, and are led by white nationalist and Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes and his organization America First. They believe that the mainstream conservative movement is just as responsible as the left for destroying white America, and that Groypers are the true future of the conservative movement.
Groypers organize over the web to harass and “troll” people and to normalize white supremacist ideas among the broader American right-wing (see GPAHE’s reporting on the Groypers’ use of gaming here). Groypers are more extreme than the MAGA movement they seek to infiltrate and dominate, given their hardcore antisemitism and white nationalist views. The symbol that they use is a derivation of the Pepe the Frog meme called the “Groyper” that became popular among white nationalists starting around 2015.
More recently, the group has sought to undermine pro-Trump organizations including Turning Point USA, CPAC, and the Daily Wire, who they derisively refer to as “cuckservatives.” The Groypers believe these groups aren’t truly “America First conservatives” given their support for Israel, an “allegiance to Jews,” and their willingness to invite people of color to speak at events, among other things. They have heckled Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, Jr., and GOP Representative Dan Crenshaw, attempted to crash CPAC conferences, and created events such as the Groyper Leadership Summit, the America First PAC, and AFPAC conferences to compete with CPAC and other conservative conclaves. They call their efforts to bring down conservatives the “Groyper Wars.”
For several years, the Groyper phenomenon was purely American. As this movement has grown, however, it has attracted a wave of international acolytes who have come to support Fuentes’ cause or imitate his strategy in their own countries. Here are profiles of prominent international Groypers.
Keith Woods/Ireland
Keith Woods is an Irish, self-described ethno-nationalist and “raging antisemite” who has close ties to the Groyper movement.
Keith Woods (right) and Nick Fuentes (left). Source: Twitter
Woods supports and regularly lobbies for Fuentes on his Twitter feed. Woods has a long history of racist activism, speaking in 2023 at the white nationalist American Renaissance conference, hosting on his podcast members of a Hitler-supporting group called the National Justice Party, and speaking with Fuentes on his Youtube show. Woods has been suspended from Twitter in the past, however, since Elon Musk brought him and other white nationalists back onto the platform, Woods has seen his following on the site grow to nearly 200,000.
Last year, Woods was invited onto former Trump legal advisor Jenna Ellis’ podcast, where he defended Irish anti-immigrant rioters who took to Dublin’s streets in 2023. He stated that, “there was justifiable anger amongst the population of Dublin … The city of Dublin is now 43, 44 percent Irish people. It’s been just a rapid, rapid demographic transformation.” Referring to non-white immigrants in Ireland, Woods shared the slogan “they have to go back,” that originated with the increasingly antisemitic Canadian group Diagolon, implying that immigrants are incapable of integrating and must be deported (see GPAHE’s reporting on Diagolon and the term here).
Woods has a history of blaming Jewish people for societal problems, publishing dehumanizing cartoons about them, and trivializing the Holocaust. Throughout the war in Gaza, Woods has regularly conflated criticism of the Israeli government’s handling of the war and brutal treatment of Palestinian civilians as criticism of Jews as a whole, as have the other Groyper adherents. He regularly cites unflattering passages from the Talmud to demonize Jewish people, constantly seeks to mainstream discussions about the “Jewish Question,” and refers to pro-Israel protesters and lobby groups as “Jewish power” and the “Jewish lobby,”
Woods became known outside of Groyper circles after promoting the antisemitic #BanTheADL hashtag, which he considers himself the “originator” of, which sought to push Elon Musk to suspend the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) from Twitter after the group criticized Musk for antisemitism on the site. According to Woods, the ADL was “censoring” Twitter by calling out antisemitism. Later on, Musk amplified the campaign by liking and replying to several of Woods’ tweets. In September 2023, Woods went on a Mario Nawfal “space,” an audio broadcast on Twitter known for hosting Musk fans, reactionaries, and other bigoted guests such as Fuentes, to defend the #BanTheADL campaign. Many of his tweets during this period attempted to disingenuously attack the inclusion of certain symbols in the ADL’s hate symbols database without placing them in their proper context.
On December 27, 2023, Woods was invited to a livestream fundraiser hosted by Fuentes for the America First Foundation in which the guests played the online game Fortnite (see GPAHE’s reporting of this event here). During the livestream, participants discussed the white supremacist “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, blamed the “decline” of the United States on diversity, and spread antisemitic conspiracy theories involving the Rothschilds. Also playing were Australian neo-Nazi Joel Davis, Canadian Proud Boys founder Gavin McInness, Proud Boys member and podcast host Ryan Katsu Riviera, far-right broadcaster and COVID conspiracist Stew Peters, far-right American podcaster Elijah Schaffer, and American antisemite Vincent James Foxx. Keith Woods will soon be appearing on another stream alongside Nick Fuentes.
Tyler Russell/Canada
Tyler Russell is a Canadian far-right activist, and Groyper influencer, who made a career out of copying Fuentes’ movement north of the border. Russell first became known for hosting the “Russell Report,” which was so bigoted that he lost his day job, and classmates wrote a petition asking for him to be expelled from Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University). Later, at a Canada Day “Freedom rally” that gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, he made explicit his desire to create a “Canada First” movement, citing the Groypers in the United States. Since creating the “Canadian branch” of the Groypers, he has sought to copy Fuentes’ strategy of radicalizing young white males over the internet.
While Canada First was still active, Russell was keen to spread his views in a way that would be more amenable to the public and has criticized those who openly use Nazi symbols. He is quoted as saying: “R***rds are posting sonnenrads and swastikas, like bruh. It blows my mind how, even at this point, people don’t get optics. Like, in private, go for it, say whatever.” However, like the other Groypers, Russell is incredibly antisemitic, even in public. He leaves no doubt that he believes that Jews control his political adversaries, are responsible for false flag events, and spread “Jewish propaganda.” In response to a Twitter user asking why a child would need to know how to use a firearm, Russell responded that they needed to be prepared, “if jews keep importing migrants to the west.”
While in Canada, Russell was active in the Freedom Convoy demonstrations against pandemic health measures in Ottawa. On September 7, 2021, he and some members of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) disrupted an event by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by reportedly “throwing rocks” at Trudeau, and engaging in other aggressive behavior.
Tyler Russell (center), Diagolon leader Jeremy Mackenzie (left), and Derek “Rants” Harrison (right) at a Freedom Movement rally in Ottawa in January 2022 (Source)
Russell later changed the name of his online show on Cozy.tv, Fuentes’ streaming platform, to “Canada First” and created a white supremacist-themed chat with the same name. His show featured the same format as Fuentes’, he wore the same suit and tie, Trump-style hat, and placed a green screen image in the background. Unlike Fuentes, Russell’s stream never became as popular. His Discord server, where he personally vetted new members, included posts with racist slurs, reverence for Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, white supremacist killers Dylann Roof and Anders Breivik, and books by extremist authors, including the Unabomber’s Manifesto.
While based in Canada, Russell frequently traveled to the U.S. for Groyper-related events. In early November 2021, he joined Fuentes at a vaccine mandate protest Fuentes organized in New York outside of Staten Island University Hospital. On November 17, 2021, the Fresno State College Republicans invited Russell to host a live-stream broadcast where he encouraged listeners to “go full dissident mode” with regards to wearing masks, free speech, and immigration. On February 25, 2022, he was an invited speaker to the Third America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC III) in Orlando, Florida, alongside other Groyper influencers, elected officials, and other white supremacists. For this, and his participation in the Ottawa Freedom Convoy protests, Russell claims he was placed on a terrorist watch list.
Sometime around the Summer of 2022, Russell stopped hosting his Canada First show and moved permanently to the U.S. His “Canada First” channels stopped posting new streams, the Canada First and Tyler Russell sites went down, and his Instagram account shows him touring America with Fuentes and other Groyper activists. Stating on Instagram that Canada was “trash,” he claimed that the “most important thing” was for Trump to be re-elected in 2024 because that would be the “catalyst for any future change in Canada.”
He now hosts “Future Nation” on the unregulated Twitch clone site, Kick, known for its lack of terms of service, which has led to a free for all on the site including hosting extremists, gambling, harassment, and criminal acts. His broadcast begins immediately after Fuentes’ America First broadcast ends. He was also recently invited to speak at a California College Republicans event in early March 2024.
João Antunes/Portugal
João Antunes is a young Groyper and far-right influencer based in Portugal. He is active with the far-right party Chega (Enough), led by Andre Ventura, where he is the president of Chega Juventude (Chega Youth) in Coimbra (see GPAHE’s reporting on the Chega Juventude here). He is also a leader in Afonso Goncalves’ extreme-right Reconquista (Reconquest) movement (see GPAHE’s reporting on Reconquista here), where he will be among the speakers at their upcoming “Grande Marcha Pela Remigração” (Grand March for Remigration) in Lisbon. He has expressed sympathy for other far-right groups including Ergue-Te and Grupo 1143, which was deplatformed from YouTube recently. Just before the first major neo-Nazi march organized by Grupo 1143 in February 2024, he posted on Twitter: “As President of the CHEGA Youth Group in Coimbra, I would like to show my full support for the peaceful protest against the invasion of hundreds of thousands of Islamic immigrants to Portugal.”
In Portuguese far-right circles, Antunes has always stood out as being more pro-American than his counterparts, and at a certain point in November 2023 he began tweeting primarily in English, expanding his potential audience. Online he aims to portray himself as a die-hard American MAGA supporter and follower of Fuentes’ “America First” agenda. He is one of Fuentes’ most loyal “reply-guys” and supporters online, and considers himself part of the MAGA movement, referring to it using the words “we” and “your base,” and calls out “traitors” to the movement. At one point, he photoshopped himself next to an image of Fuentes at a “Stop the Steal” rally.
Antunes regularly shares tweets in support of Fuentes and Trump, and has been featured on Fuentes’ stream for making memes calling for a “Dictator Trump.” He has shared a video where Fuentes yells the N-word for ten seconds straight, has supported the misogynist, alleged human trafficker Andrew Tate, and defended lowering the age of consent in line with Fuentes’ arguments in favor of marrying underage women. He has spread images that originate with Fuentes that imply that Jews control the media, and as an extension “control your mind,” and praised the fact that people are “questioning the Holocaust narrative, Israel support and talking about The Talmud.” Recently, Antunes has been active online in the “Second Groyper War” to try and influence the Trump campaign to remove certain staffers from the campaign.
Antunes Tweet in support of Fuentes. Source: Twitter
Antunes is a prime example of an individual who was radicalized at a very young age, the demographics that the Groypers target, primarily through the internet. As a teenager, he was interested in more moderate political parties, prior to joining Chega in late 2020. Even as late as 2021, he referred to Fuentes as “sick,” and an “antisemite, white nationalist, homophobe [who] called for the death of Ben Shapiro.”
Before Musk took over Twitter, Antunes was frequently banned for posting hateful content. But now his following has grown, he has been invited to Twitter “spaces” to speak to large audiences, and he has received payments from Twitter for his content. He also has a long history of celebrating violence online. In the summer of 2023, he praised three individuals who committed a hate crime by vandalizing an Evora Pride event, referring to them as “heroes” and “good Samaritans.” In response to a video showing LGBTQ+ people in Lebanon being violently attacked at a Pride event, he cheered on a user who called for violence against them.
Milo Yiannopoulos/U.K.
Milo Yiannopoulos is a British far-right activist, who was a prominent leader within the Groyper for several years. Yiannopoulos first gained popularity in American far-right circles as the former editor of Breitbart News from 2014 to 2017. Yiannopoulos was responsible for driving the Gamergate phenomenon, where women gamers were harassed, by becoming one of its most vocal supporters and pushing the harassment campaign using Breitbart.
Yiannopoulos was then known for his bigoted views against women, writing articles with such titles as “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy” and “Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism Or Cancer?” and for his anti-Muslim views. He was also known during the last decade for soliciting news stories from white supremacist writers at American Renaissance and The Daily Stormer. In 2017, he was seen singing “America the Beautiful” at a karaoke bar alongside Richard Spencer and other white supremacists who gave fascist salutes. Also in 2017, Yiannopoulos was removed as a speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) after a video of him condoning sexual relationships between 13-year-old boys and adults, indicating that they could happen “perfectly consensually” online.
In March 2021, Yiannopoulos, who was openly gay, claimed he’d “found God” and started referring to himself as “ex-gay,” saying that he wanted to start a “conversion therapy” center in Florida. Conversion therapy is the discredited and dangerous practice, banned in many countries, that seeks to change a person’s orientation or identity (see GPAHE’s reports on conversion therapy online here and here). Following his fall from grace in 2017, Yiannopoulos moved into the orbit of Fuentes and the Groypers.
In early 2022, Yiannopoulos was listed as a speaker at a large AFPAC III conference, organized by Fuentes, which included a number of Republican Party elected officials such as Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona and Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers, Groyper influencers, and white supremacists, such as American Renaissance head Jared Taylor. Later in the year, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who also appeared at the conference, hired Yiannopoulos to work as an unpaid intern in her Washington office.
In 2022, the rapper Kanye West, after making a series of antisemitic remarks, hired Yiannopoulos and Fuentes to work on his long-shot presidential campaign, with Yiannopoulos tapped to be his campaign manager and Fuentes an advisor. During this time, Yiannopoulos and Fuentes joined West on the conspiracist Alex Jones’ broadcast where they all spread antisemitism and West mentioned that he “liked Hitler.” They both also joined West at his meeting with Trump in November 2022 at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Yiannopoulos later claimed that he helped set up the meeting to “make Trump’s life miserable” and “send a message to Trump that he has systematically repeatedly neglected, ignored, abused the people who love him the most, the people who put him in office, and that kind of behavior comes back to bite you in the end.” Fuentes and the Groypers continued to use West as a meme to recruit college-age students to their cause using the hashtag #YeIsRight and through the creation of the group “Students for Ye.”
Around May 2023, Yiannopoulos’ split from the Groypers began after he reportedly sent emails to Fuentes telling him that his position with West’s campaign was terminated. Since then, he has largely kept his distance from Fuentes and the movement. A year later, Yiannopoulos resigned as Kanye West’s Chief of Staff, citing West’s plans to venture into the pornography business.
