FBI announces arrests on suspicion of extremist conspiracy to attack power grid

Authorities announced Monday that law enforcement had arrested a neo-Nazi leader and a woman who allegedly planned a “racially motivated” attack on a power substation in the Baltimore area.

The arrests of Brandon Russell and Sarah Clendaniel took place in Maryland and Florida, FBI Special Agent Thomas Sobochinsky said. news conference.

The two “conspired and took steps to shoot down” several electrical substations in the Baltimore area in order to “completely destroy the entire city,” said Maryland U.S. Attorney Erec Barron.

“These plans have been halted through the swift action and cooperation of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners. Together, we are using all legal means necessary to keep Marylanders safe and stop hate-motivated violence,” Barron said.

Russell reportedly founded the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division and pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered destructive device, receiving a 60-month prison sentence and three years of parole in 2018. application for initiation of criminal proceedings against him and Clendaniel.

Russell gave instructions and location information, calling the attack on the power transformers “the greatest thing anyone could do,” while Clendaniel said she was “determined to do it,” Soboczynski said.

In January, two men were charged separately for assaulting four people in Pierce County, Washington, USA. electrical substationsallegedly causing over $3 million worth of damage to facilities and taking away electricity from thousands of people on Christmas Day, which they said was part of a burglary scheme.

Shooting at two substations in Moore County, North Carolina disabled several substations. electricity for 40,000 people early December, NPR informedonly for vandals to allegedly attack another Randolph County substation in mid-January.

Sobochinsky said, FBI had no indication that Russell and Clendaniel’s alleged plot was connected to such attacks elsewhere.

A spokesman for Barron’s office did not immediately respond to a Daily Caller News Foundation request for comment.