Neo-Nazi group leader convicted of planning to attack Maryland power grid

Brandon Russell, the founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group, was convicted Monday of conspiring to plan an attack on Maryland’s power grid.

Russell encouraged his former girlfriend Sarah Beth Clendaniel, of Maryland, to carry out various “sniper attacks” on electrical substations near Baltimore, The Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors allege the attacks could have caused damage to the region’s power grid and were intended to cause chaos in the majority-Black city to further Russell’s “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist beliefs.”

“Hate-fueled violence has no place in a civilized society. Brandon Russell went well beyond his First Amendment rights, orchestrating a terrorist plot that would have harmed thousands of innocent people,” Erek L. Barron, a U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, said in a Department of Justice release.

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Russell was convicted of one count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility. He was convicted in U.S. District Court in Baltimore after the jury deliberated for less than an hour.

Russell and Clendaniel were arrested in 2023 before an attack was carried out, but prosecutors accused them of “taking steps” to fulfill their threats.

Russell, who appeared cheerful throughout the trial, co-founded the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, which is German for “atomic weapon,” the AP reported.

Russell’s attorney said the defendant was in Florida and had no plans to travel to Maryland to carry out the attack.

It wasn’t Russell’s first law enforcement encounter. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and improper storage of explosive materials after police searched his home and found neo-Nazi materials.

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Clendaniel pleaded guilty last May and was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the conspiracy.

The plot by the pair is one of several by far-right extremist groups that aim to target electrical grids. While none have come to fruition, there are real vulnerabilities within the grid that could be taken advantage of and cause serious damage to the grid and human life.

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