BALTIMORE — A Maryland woman and a Florida man were federally charged with conspiracy to attack a Baltimore power grid, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland announced Monday.
Sarah Beth Clendaniel, of Catonsville, Maryland, and Brandon Clint Russell, of Orlando, Florida, plotted to shoot and destroy multiple electrical substations in the Baltimore region to further their racial and ethnic violent extremist beliefs, U.S. Attorney Erek Barron said at the news conference. Russell is the founder of a neo-Nazi group.
“Identifying and disrupting terrorist plots, both foreign and domestic is one of the FBI top priorities,” said Thomas Sobocinski, an FBI special agent in charge of Baltimore’s task force. Damaging an electrical substation could cause power outages that would affect hospitals, businesses and homes, he said.
