Man, woman charged in plot to attack Maryland power grid

"This planned attack threatened lives and would have left thousands of Marylanders in the cold and dark."

ADVERTISEMENT
Image
Joshua Young North Carolina
ADVERTISEMENT

On Monday, the FBI and US Attorney's Office officials announced that they had arrested and charged 34-year-old Sarah Beth Clendaniel of Catonsville, Maryland and 27-year-old Brandon Clint Russell of Orlando, Florida with conspiracy to destroy an energy facility over an alleged plot to destroy 5 power grid substations in Maryland.

Fox News reports, the US Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron said, "This planned attack threatened lives and would have left thousands of Marylanders in the cold and dark. We are united and committed to using every legal means necessary to disrupt violence, including hate-fueled attacks."

Thomas J. Sobocinski, the Special Agent in Charge out of the FBI Baltimore Field Office, said, "The FBI will continue to work closely with our law enforcement and private sector partners to identify and disrupt any potential threat to the safety of our citizens."

According to an affidavit by Patrick W. Straub, a Baltimore Division Special Agent of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Clendaniel spoke to an FBI informant last week about the plan and said she was targeting five substations. She allegedly said her attacks would "completely destroy this whole city" and a "good four or five shots through the center of them" would be enough to destroy the substations.

Clendaniel was in prison for convenience store robbery when she started digitally communicating with Russel, who was in prison for possessing bomb-making materials. 

Russel allegedly had "racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist beliefs" according to the affidavit and recruited Clendaniel.

He allegedly posted open-source maps to the power grid infrastructure and commented on how targeted attacks could cause "cascading failure" to Maryland's power supply.

"Clendaniel, in collaborating on a plan to carry out the attacks, conspired to secure a weapon and identified five substations she planned to target, according to court documents," reports Fox.

Clendaniel and Russel could face 20 years in federal prison if convicted of the charges.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign in to comment

Comments

Powered by StructureCMS™ Comments

Join and support independent free thinkers!

We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.

Support The Post Millennial

Remind me next month

To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 The Post Millennial, Privacy Policy