The FBI has acknowledged that violent domestic extremists radicalized by personalized grievances pose a huge threat to the U.S.. Republicans don't like to talk about that, though. There have been recent attacks on substations, causing thousands of people to lose power in Washington State and North Carolina.
A neo-Nazi leader and his girlfriend have been arrested for conspiring to destroy an energy facility. Brandon Russell, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, could face up to 20 years in prison.
According to the Baltimore Banner, Clendaniel was recorded telling an FBI source that her plan was to shoot up energy substations in the Baltimore area, including in Norrisville, Reisterstown, and Perry Hallm.
"It would probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully," she allegedly said on Jan. 29.
Via The Washington Post:
According to prosecutors, their plan was to attack with gunfire five substations that serve the Baltimore area. The charges come after similar attacks on the power grid in North Carolina and Oregon that remain unsolved; the Department of Homeland Security recently warned that the United States is in a "heightened threat environment" and that critical infrastructure is among the "targets of potential violence."
Clendaniel and Russell met while incarcerated at separate prisons, according to the court documents — Russell in federal custody for possessing bombmaking materials and Clendaniel in a Maryland facility for robbing convenience stores with a machete.
"Going to prison was worth it because I might not have met you otherwise," Russell said in one text.
Sarah Beth Clendaniel, via the DOJ:
I think dating apps are better, but that's just me. He seems really nice. I'm sure he's a blast at parties, too:
Russell, a former Florida National Guard member, is the founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen, which attempted to use violent attacks to spark a race war in the United States. Experts say the group, while small, is dangerous because of its influence on the broader far-right movement to eschew politics and spill blood.
Russell posted links to open-source maps of infrastructure, including locations of electrical substations that he said would cause a "cascading failure" if attacked at once.
Charming.
