It rose to prominence in the early 2020s amidst the George Floyd protests and the 2020–2023 United States racial unrest, when it attempted to construct a compound in the Rocky Mountains which it named "Hammer City.

"[7][8][9] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described the organization as mixing "Black nationalist rhetoric and a revolutionary message with hot-button issues like anti-vaccine myths and election conspiracies."

By 2020, membership increased significantly following the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protests across the United States, with the organization amassing "hundreds" of members and chapters across the country.

On January 24, 2021, he released a video wearing Joker makeup and calling Holocaust victim Anne Frank a "bleach demon," a "colonizer," a "parasite", and a "Karen," and claiming that he was going to burn copies of her diary for warmth.

[9] On May 3, 2021, the group announced that they had "liberated" 200 acres of land somewhere in Colorado, – later revealed to be Beaver Pines, San Miguel County – after raising over US$60,000 in donations (eventually reaching $112,000).

The San Miguel County Sheriff later inspected the property, finding an unfinished footbridge over a drainage ditch, a real estate sign riddled with bullet holes, and 4-inch screws scattered on the road.

[7][8] On July 19, 2022, police in Fayetteville, Georgia received an anonymous call from someone claiming to be held against their will in a home rented by the Black Hammer Party.

Chief assistant prosecutor David Studdard explained that "the expected testimony by [Rushin] and other key witnesses was unreliable and the case had languished too long".

[26] On July 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice made public information about alleged Russian influence operations involving collaboration with American political organizations.

This would have been used to fund the group's protest at the headquarters of Meta Platforms, Facebook's parent company, due to the latter's censorship of posts supporting the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.