The Justice Department unsealed charges Monday against two people, one a “founding member of a neo-Nazi group,” in relation to an alleged plot to sabotage power stations in Baltimore Maryland.
The two suspects, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 34, and Brandon Clint Russell, 27, are charged with conspiracy to damage an energy facility, the Justice Department announced in a press release.
An FBI criminal complaint affidavit detailed the FBI’s account of the events leading up to the arrest, showing that social media accounts believed to have been operated by the two suspects discussed conducting strategic attacks on power stations with an FBI informant.
A social media account with the moniker Homunculus, who the FBI believes to be Russell, allegedly texted an FBI informant that he hoped the attack would trigger a “cascading failure costing billions of dollars,” believing such an action could, “completely lay this city to waste.”
The criminal complaint identifies the social media user “Nythra” as Clendaniel. Clendaniel allegedly communicated with the informant about her desire to obtain a rifle. She allegedly used a different social media account, @kali1889, to continue corresponding with the informant about taking out power stations.
Pictures on display at U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sarah Beth Clendaniel of Catonsville and Brandon Clint Russell of Orlando FL charged with federal criminal complaint to destroy an energy facility. These charges to be announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for MD and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Russell allegedly messaged the informant, telling him or her to conduct the attack “when there is greatest strain on the grid… when everyone is using electricity to either heat or cool their homes,” per the FBI, quoting social media messages.
“This alleged planned attack threatened lives and would have left thousands of Marylanders in the cold and dark,” Erek L. Barron, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, said in the press release.
This is not Russell’s first run-in with law enforcement in connection with his alleged extremist activities.
In 2017, Russell pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered destructive device and for unlawful storage of explosive material and was sentenced to five years in prison, the Justice Department announced in 2018. Acting Assistant Attorney General Boente described Russell as “an active and founding member of a neo-Nazi group.”
Russell’s activities first became known to law enforcement in 2017, when a dispute broke out between two of Russell’s roommates, allegedly members of the same neo-Nazi group, and another roommate who had “converted from Neo-Nazi beliefs to Islam.” The roomate who conversted to Islam, Devon Arthurs, “murdered the other two roomates,” according to the affidavit.
Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for Maryland announces the arrests and a federal criminal complaint charging Sarah Beth Clendaniel of Catonsville and Brandon Clint Russell of Orlando with conspiracy to destroy an energy facility. At left is FBI Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski, and at right is Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen O. Gavin. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The FBI noted Russell was not present when the murder took place.
A subsequent seach of the house alerted authorities to Russell’s extreme sympathies and ultimately led to the 2017 explosives case.
During the ensuing response and investigation, police discovered Neo-Nazi paraphernalia, a picture of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the high explosive hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (“HMTD”) and, among other items, numerous explosive precursors that belonged to RUSSELL.
Clendaniel also has a criminal record, having pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery in 2016, the Cecil Whig reported.
The FBI believes the two began “corresponding with each other while they were both incarcerated in separate facilities.”
The crimes of which Russell and Clendaniel are accused carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, per the Justice Department.