A group of far-right activists have formed a new information gathering unit and have progressive activists in their sights, HOPE not hate (HNH) can reveal.
The secretive group is fronted by Ashley Dean Smith, a former member of the fascist Homeland Party. Smith claims the group has already collected information on more than 10,000 “ideological enemies, fifth columnists and subversive types” – mostly Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) officials in both public and private organisations.
HNH understands that Smith and his team of “list builders” have attracted the interest of a tech financier and aim to publish information on left-wing activists on a new website. There are indications that the group has attempted to acquire data-collection tools as well as tracking and analytics software in order to monitor the digital footprint of those it targets.
HNH discovered the Signal group through which the group communicates when one of our sources was unwittingly added to it.
The impetus for the project was the assassination of American activist Charlie Kirk this September. In the aftermath of the shooting, Smith tweeted:
“We are in a state of War. How long until what happened to Charlie Kirk takes place in the UK? A few months? A year? War is inevitable now, the battle lines are being drawn, and we all need to be ready. All of us in the UK need to be ready”.
Ashley Dean Smith, 10 September 2025
The following day, he wrote: “I don’t think there’s a peaceful solution anymore. Everything is pointing to war, not just in the US but in Europe and Britain”.
He later put out a call to “all nationalists”:
“We need to start forming information gathering networks on the people behind The Judiciary, NGO figures, Permanent Civil Service, Punditry, Politicians (ideally, minor) […] we must learn the names of these people, their email addresses and so much more. So that the public can…address their grievances in reasonable ways.”
Ashley Dean Smith, 11 September 2025
Three weeks later, he claimed his volunteers had collected the personal information of 10,000 people “whose work, jobs, careers, and actions have harmed us, the Native”. Most of these are alleged to be DEI officials at a wide range of organisations, whom Smith describes as “ideological enemies, fifth columnists and subversive types” engaged in “a generational war against the native person”.
He also claimed that his team had submitted:
“nearly 500 Freedom of Information requests to uncover the true extent of HMO’s [houses in multiple occupation] in England. We believe we’re going to find the addresses of thousands of dwellings which are housing tens of thousands of illegals, criminals and many other ne’er-do-wells all across the country…and some lefty students!”
Ashley Dean Smith, 30 September 2025
Smith is no stranger to grandiose schemes, and there is every chance this new project fails to meet his lofty ambitions. The far-right fringes are volatile and often dysfunctional, its activists unreliable.
Nonetheless, Smith’s rhetoric is militant, and the collection of data on professed enemies is an escalation in tactics.
HOPE not hate will publish further findings on the group and its activists in the coming weeks.
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