The group claims to have drawn thousands of new members in the United States through social-media recruitment. There are claims of chapters in at least 42 states.
"[Soldiers of Odin] bring together white supremacists, anti-government groups, anti-immigrant folks," offers Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow with the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Center on Extremism. "This is a nasty group of people," he asserts.
The Facebook page associated with Soldiers of Odin USA claims over 4000 members, though the page itself is private. Not all of those are patrolling the streets, Pitcavage says, cited by Vocativ.
The group states its goal is to stop refugees from "invading" the US and "bringing massive waves of rape and crime with them," according to their private Facebook page.
A spokesperson for the group claims that, unlike their compatriots in Europe and Canada, the US branch is neither violent nor racist.
"The accusation that we are a Nazi or any other racially-motivated hate group is not true," the spokesperson told Vocativ. "We are simply Americans preparing for the worst and hoping for the best."
Contrary to the group's assertions, the ADL has documented racist and violent posts by group members in social media.
"These Africans are a bunch of spoiled brats contaminating clean communities. Call them out. Kick some ass. Spread the message. America needs to get tough," one Facebook comment reads.
The ADL report adds that several of US group's members are in KKK organizations and other racist groups.
It is unclear if the Soldiers of Odin pose an actual threat, "but the mere fact that this intolerant and prejudiced group has a significant and growing foothold in the United States is itself disturbing enough," the report says.