also it sounds like they're not talking foam swords and nerds but the milsim kind, with airsoft rifles (or real rifles) who have meetings as actual factions talking actual operational tactics, and then go wargame them on the airsoft field or at a shooting range that's set up like Desert Brutality or similar 2-gun matches.
which maybe isn't great to tell people an organizing tactic to keep them off the radar yeah? or tell cops what to pattern match them to even if they seem suspicious.
one of those things where malice and incompetence need to be equally weighted because this sounds like fox news from the 90s