A neo-Nazi leader recently released from prison has been arrested again and accused of plotting an attack on the Maryland power grid with a woman he met while incarcerated.
Brandon Russell, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, are expected to make their first appearance Monday in Baltimore federal court on a charge of conspiring to destroy an energy facility, which carries up to 20 years in prison.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.
“If we can pull off what I’m hoping … this would be legendary,” Clendaniel said on Jan. 29, according to the court record. She was speaking to a federal informant, who was having similar discussions with Russell.
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.”
In conversations about the plot, according to court documents, Clendaniel “described how there was a ‘ring’ around Baltimore and if they hit a number of them all in the same day, they ‘would completely destroy this whole city.’”
Federal prosecutors found this picture of Sarah Clendaniel during an investigation into a plot to attack the Maryland power grid. (U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland)
At a news conference Monday morning, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron said thanked federal, state and local law enforcement partners for stopping the plot.
“Together, we are using every legal means necessary to keep Marylanders safe and to disrupt hate-fueled violence,” Barron said. “When we are united, hate cannot win.”
Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the FBI field office in Baltimore said Clendaniel and Russell conspired to inflict “maximum harm” to the power grid.
“The accused were not just talking, but taking steps to fulfill their threats and further their extremist goals,” Sobocinski said.
The FBI views their extremist views as “racially or ethnically motivated,” Sobocinski said.
In response to a question whether this plot was connected to other attacks across the country, Sobocinski said the FBI has “no indication” that this plot was “anything larger.” Clendaniel and Russell were taken into custody without incident late last week, one in Florida and the other in Maryland, Sobocinski said.
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.
Both are on probation. It was not immediately clear whether they had attorneys representing them in this matter. Attempts to reach family for Clendaniel and Russell were not immediately successful.
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.
An Atomwaffen member killed a gay, Jewish college student in 2019; another adherent killed his girlfriend’s parents for opposing his Nazi views. Atomwaffen followers have also threatened and harassed journalists, African American churches and Jewish organizations.
A former Atomwaffen member named Devon Arthurs, who lived with Russell in Tampa, killed two of their roommates in 2017 and subsequently told authorities they had been planning attacks on U.S. nuclear plants and power lines.
Police discovered bombmaking materials and explosives inside the shared apartment where the murders occurred; Russell subsequently pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and improper storage of explosive materials.
His replacement as leader of Atomwaffen was subsequently imprisoned for “swatting,” or calling in fake crises to provoke lethal law enforcement raids.
Russell began talking to the informant while still in prison, according to the court record; he was released in August 2021. The discussions of infrastructure attacks began last summer.
Prosecutors say Russell recommended targeting transformers because they are “custom made and could take almost a year to replace.” He also said the attack would be most effective after a winter storm, “when most people are using max electricity.”
Clendaniel told the informant she expected to die of kidney disease within months and just wanted “to accomplish something worthwhile” first. She left a statement, according to the complaint, that references Hitler, the Unabomber, and a Norwegian mass killer and says, “I would sacrifice **everything** for my people.” She said Russell, unlike her, “has a lot to lose.”
Brandon Russell, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, are expected to make their first appearance Monday in Baltimore federal court on a charge of conspiring to destroy an energy facility, which carries up to 20 years in prison.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.
“If we can pull off what I’m hoping … this would be legendary,” Clendaniel said on Jan. 29, according to the court record. She was speaking to a federal informant, who was having similar discussions with Russell.
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.”
In conversations about the plot, according to court documents, Clendaniel “described how there was a ‘ring’ around Baltimore and if they hit a number of them all in the same day, they ‘would completely destroy this whole city.’”
Federal prosecutors found this picture of Sarah Clendaniel during an investigation into a plot to attack the Maryland power grid. (U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland)
At a news conference Monday morning, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron said thanked federal, state and local law enforcement partners for stopping the plot.
“Together, we are using every legal means necessary to keep Marylanders safe and to disrupt hate-fueled violence,” Barron said. “When we are united, hate cannot win.”
Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the FBI field office in Baltimore said Clendaniel and Russell conspired to inflict “maximum harm” to the power grid.
“The accused were not just talking, but taking steps to fulfill their threats and further their extremist goals,” Sobocinski said.
The FBI views their extremist views as “racially or ethnically motivated,” Sobocinski said.
In response to a question whether this plot was connected to other attacks across the country, Sobocinski said the FBI has “no indication” that this plot was “anything larger.” Clendaniel and Russell were taken into custody without incident late last week, one in Florida and the other in Maryland, Sobocinski said.
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.
Both are on probation. It was not immediately clear whether they had attorneys representing them in this matter. Attempts to reach family for Clendaniel and Russell were not immediately successful.
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.
An Atomwaffen member killed a gay, Jewish college student in 2019; another adherent killed his girlfriend’s parents for opposing his Nazi views. Atomwaffen followers have also threatened and harassed journalists, African American churches and Jewish organizations.
A former Atomwaffen member named Devon Arthurs, who lived with Russell in Tampa, killed two of their roommates in 2017 and subsequently told authorities they had been planning attacks on U.S. nuclear plants and power lines.
Police discovered bombmaking materials and explosives inside the shared apartment where the murders occurred; Russell subsequently pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and improper storage of explosive materials.
His replacement as leader of Atomwaffen was subsequently imprisoned for “swatting,” or calling in fake crises to provoke lethal law enforcement raids.
Russell began talking to the informant while still in prison, according to the court record; he was released in August 2021. The discussions of infrastructure attacks began last summer.
Prosecutors say Russell recommended targeting transformers because they are “custom made and could take almost a year to replace.” He also said the attack would be most effective after a winter storm, “when most people are using max electricity.”
Clendaniel told the informant she expected to die of kidney disease within months and just wanted “to accomplish something worthwhile” first. She left a statement, according to the complaint, that references Hitler, the Unabomber, and a Norwegian mass killer and says, “I would sacrifice **everything** for my people.” She said Russell, unlike her, “has a lot to lose.”
