A couple appeared on Friday, March 10, before American justice for having planned attacks on electrical installations around the city of Baltimore in Maryland. Brandon Russel, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
From our correspondent in New York,
They both pleaded not guilty. Still, the file the FBI has on them is pretty heavy. Messages sent to each other by Brandon Russel and Sarah Clendaniel have already been revealed: the young woman spoke of an attack ” legendary “, and hoped” completely destroy the whole city of Baltimore “. And even if they were arrested before putting their plan into action, both of them are at risk of returning to prison.
This is also where they met: Brandon Russel was behind bars for handling explosives, Sarah Clendaniel for armed robbery. Once released, the two began to organize the attack on 5 power stations around Baltimore, a city of 500,000 inhabitants. they were looking for weapons and information on the power grid. It was a friend of theirs, who was actually an FBI source, who reported them.
Attacks from domestic extremists
US authorities are particularly vigilant, as physical attacks against the US power grid have increased significantly in recent years, especially in 2022 when we saw a sharp acceleration of 71% compared to the previous year. However, attacks had already increased by 20% in 2021 compared to 2020 despite the confinements due to Covid-19. And a confidential analysis revealed by CBS News reveals that this increase should continue this year, given the current climate, which is a real threat. By this, experts mean the rise of the far right.
Attacks are increasingly linked to political claims. Brandon Russel is also at the head of a neo-Nazi group. But above all, their case shone the light on the followers of “accelerationism”. Because Sarah Clendaniel was not hiding on the networks to be a follower of racist theories and also of “accelerationism”, that is to say the idea that society would fall into chaos if it were deprived of electricity . And that this collapse could allow a white nationalist government to take over from the current administration.
Acts of domestic terrorism, according to some
This is an idea that is often found among white supremacist groups. Their members share maps of electrical networks in open-source on Telegram… and a small explanatory work too. Investigators are also finding that it is an increasingly discussed topic on far-right chat rooms.
Moreover, there are calls for these attacks against critical infrastructure to be treated legally as domestic terrorist attacks – which is not yet the case. Investigators are verifying in any case that the recent attacks in Washington State, Oregon and North Carolina are linked to this movement. The attack in North Carolina in early December left 35,000 people without electricity for several days.
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