A US racist and neo-fascist hate group that has become a public fixture in recent years has descended on central Texas in a stunt it claims is part of the “disaster relief” efforts under way after the devastating flash floods hit the region last week.

Patriot Front, founded following the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where its leader, Thomas Rousseau, a Texan, was later charged for his participation, has claimed on its Telegram app channel that it has shown up in the areas near Camp Mystic, where 27 young campers lost their lives.

“Patriot Front is here in central Texas,” Rousseau declares in a video statement, amid the backdrop of what sounds like buzzing chainsaws and a flood ravaged community, “responding to the flooding, which has destroyed communities and taken the lives of scores of Americans”.

Rousseau goes on to claim that his so-called “activists” are distributing supplies to survivors, but clarifies that his group is prioritizing their “people” and “European peoples” in those operations.