Neo-Nazi chief convicted of plotting energy grid assault | EUROtoday

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The founding father of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group was convicted Monday of conspiring together with his former girlfriend to plan an assault on Maryland’s energy grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs.

Brandon Russell, 29, inspired Sarah Beth Clendaniel to hold out a collection of “sniper attacks” on electrical substations round Baltimore that would have triggered important injury to the regional energy grid, in keeping with federal prosecutors. Their purpose was to create chaos within the majority-Black metropolis, prosecutors say.

The two had been arrested in February 2023 — earlier than the plans had been executed.

After listening to about 4 days of testimony in federal court docket in Baltimore, the 12-person jury deliberated for lower than an hour. They discovered Russell responsible of 1 depend of conspiracy to wreck an power facility, the one cost he confronted.

Russell can be sentenced at a later date.

He co-founded the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, which is German for “atomic weapon,” a number of years in the past in Florida.

This wasn’t his first run-in with regulation enforcement. Russell beforehand pleaded responsible to possession of an unregistered harmful machine and improper storage of explosive supplies after investigators searched his dwelling and located a stash of extremely explosive supplies and a cache of neo-Nazi indicators, posters, books and flags.

Thomas J. Sobocinski, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Baltimore Field Office, speaks during a news conference in Baltimore

Thomas J. Sobocinski, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Baltimore Field Office, speaks throughout a information convention in Baltimore

During closing arguments Monday afternoon, prosecutor Joseph Baldwin recounted trial testimony, together with from a confidential informant who obtained related with Russell by way of the social media app Telegram. Russell then launched Clendaniel and the informant, hoping the particular person might assist her acquire a firearm to make use of within the assault, in keeping with prosecutors.

“He was the team leader taking care of his warrior,” Baldwin instructed the jury.

Russell’s legal professional downplayed his involvement within the plot, calling the case “a setup from the very beginning.”

Russell was in Florida your complete time with no plans to journey to Maryland and actively help in finishing up the assault, legal professional Ian Goldstein mentioned. Russell might have supported efforts to disrupt fashionable society and restore white supremacy, however he wasn’t a co-conspirator on this case, Goldstein mentioned throughout his closing argument.

“He was a cheerleader — as terrible as that sounds,” Goldstein mentioned. “That’s what he was, and that’s not illegal.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/brandon-russel-nazi-baltimore-power-b2691748.html