TAMPA, Fla. — The FBI has disrupted a plot by members of a white supremacist group to attack critical infrastructure. And according to federal authorities, the alleged mastermind has ties to Tampa.
They said Brandon Clint Russell and his co-defendant planned to shoot up electrical substations in Baltimore. If Russell’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he was convicted of another high-profile crime here five years ago.
At a press conference in Baltimore Monday, authorities from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI announced the arrests of Sarah Beth Clendaniel and Brandon Clint Russell, saying they planned “sniper attacks” on the city’s electrical infrastructure.
“Clandaniel and Russell conspired and took steps to shoot multiple power stations in the Baltimore area, aiming to completely destroy this whole city,” said Baltimore U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron.
Authorities said the couple targeted predominantly black neighborhoods.
“The FBI views them as racially or ethnically motivated extremists,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Thomas Sobocinski.
Investigators said the FBI Cybercrimes Division led the investigation, and Russell, who is the founder and leader of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group, was the mastermind.
“Russell provided the instruction and location information. He described attacking the power transformers as the greatest thing somebody can do,” Sobocinski said.
Russell was taken into custody late last week at the Orlando home where he lived with his grandmother.
A former University of South Florida student and a former member of the Florida National Guard, Russell was arrested in 2017, after police found bomb-making materials at his Tampa Palms apartment. Police were called to that home after they learned two of his roommates had been shot to death, allegedly by Russell’s third roommate, who is still awaiting trial.
Russell fled to Key West where he was arrested days after the shootings. Court records from that arrest showed Russell had neo-Nazi propaganda and a framed picture of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in his home.
He allegedly posted online rants threatening to kill people and bomb infrastructures.
Russell pleaded guilty to storing explosives and served four years in prison where police said he started an online relationship with his co-defendant. Agents said the two planned to attack electrical substations during the cold winter months to cause the most harm.
“Their actions threatened the electricity and heat of our homes, hospitals, and businesses. But it’s far from the first time an electrical grid has been targeted,” Sobocinski said.
The U.S. Department of Energy recorded more than 100 reports of suspicious activity, vandalism, sabotage, and actual physical attacks involving power facilities in 2022.
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