NBC News reports:
The founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group was convicted Monday of conspiring with his former girlfriend to plan an attack on Maryland’s power grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs.
Brandon Russell, 29, encouraged Sarah Beth Clendaniel to carry out a series of “sniper attacks” on electrical substations around Baltimore that could have caused significant damage to the regional power grid, according to federal prosecutors. Their goal was to create chaos in the majority-Black city, prosecutors say.
The two were arrested in February 2023 — before the plans were executed. Russell apparently wasn’t on law enforcement’s radar until police responded to a 2017 double homicide at a Tampa apartment building and found him outside crying, dressed in military fatigues. One of his roommates had killed the other two, officials said.
Read the full article. The girlfriend was sentenced to 18 years in September. Russell’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled. Of note, gutting the FBI will obviously make catching these extremists before they act less likely.
Neo-Nazi group leader convicted of plotting Maryland power grid attack
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— Mike Walker (@newnarrative.bsky.social) February 4, 2025 at 2:02 AM