Pair charged in alleged neo-Nazi plot to 'completely destroy' Baltimore by bringing down power grid
Federal prosecutors in Baltimore on Monday announced the arrest of two neo-Nazis who allegedly planned to knock out Baltimore's power grid in an attack motivated by racial bias. An FBI informant had recorded conversations with the two defendants, Brandon Russell and Sarah Clendaniel, starting when they were in separate prisons in Florida and Maryland, respectively.
Russell, 27, is a founding member of the Atomwaffen Division neo-Nazi group. He met Clendaniel, 34, while in prison. They face up to 20 years on charges of conspiring to destroy an energy facility.
White supremacists and other far-right extremist groups have been increasingly "laser-focused on conducting attacks on the energy sector during the last six years as a pretext for the anticipated collapse of American government and society," accord to a report released in September by the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Recent unsolved attacks on the power grid in North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington State highlighted the vulnerability of substations and other weak links in the electrical grid.
In Baltimore, Clendaniel said she wanted to "completely lay this city to waste," FBI Special Agent in Charge Thomas Sobocinski said at Monday's news conference. Clendaniel said that shooting five specific power substations in a ring around Baltimore would "completely destroy this whole city" by setting off a cascade of power failures that would cause chaos and civil unrest, according to a criminal complaint. "If we can pull off what I'm hoping, " she told the FBI informant on Jan. 29, "this would be legendary."
"Russell provided instructions and location information," Sobocinski said at a news conference. He advised Clendaniel to carry out an attack "when there is greatest strain on the grid," like "when everyone is using electricity to either heat or cool their homes," the complaint says.
Russell was sent to prison for five years after police found bombmaking materials in his apartment in 2018, after one of his roommates murdered two other Atomwaffen members amid an alleged plot to attack nuclear plants and power lines.
Lanette Clendaniel, Sarah Clendaniel's mother, told The Washington Post that her daughter got involved with neo-Nazis in the prison system. "She didn't really get into that crap until she was in prison," she said. Sarah Clendaniel told the informant she wanted "to accomplish something worthwhile" before dying of kidney disease in the next few months, the complain said, and referenced Hitler and other white supremacist murderers in a statement pledging to "sacrifice **everything** for my people."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
DOJ seeks breakup of Google, Chrome
Speed Read The Justice Department aims to force Google to sell off Chrome and make other changes to rectify its illegal search monopoly
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
What can Elon Musk's cost-cutting task force actually cut?
Talking Points A $2 trillion goal. And big obstacles in the way.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Her Lotus Year: Paul French's new biography sets lurid rumours straight
The Week Recommends Wallis Simpson's year in China is less scandalous, but 'more interesting' than previously thought
By The Week UK Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published