they re somewhat organized. the strategy? attack the weakest links, trying to cause a domino effect. when you remove one substation, but maybe it s multiple substations, you have this collapsing effect on the system. this defendant, sarah clendaniel, according to court documents, told a confidential informant that she expected to die of a kidney disease within a few months and wanted to, quote, accomplish something worthwhile before her death. cnn has been unable to reach the defendants or their lawyers for comments on these charges. wolf? all right. reporting for us, bryan, thank you very much. and to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i m wolf blitzer in the situation room. you can always follow me on twitter and instagram@wolf blitzer. you can tweet the show at cnn sit room. erin burnett out front starts right now.
Two white supremacists a Florida man and a Maryland woman have been arrested on federal charges of plotting to attack multiple energy substation with the goal of destroying Baltimore. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that the suspects, Sarah Clendaniel of Catonsville, Maryland, and Brandon Russell of Orlando, Florida, were allegedly fueled by a racist extremist ideology as they "conspired to inflict maximum harm" on the power grid with the aim to "completely destroy" Baltimore. U.S. Attorney Erek Barron and a top FBI official said at a Monday morning press conference that Russell the founder of the notorious neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen is quoted in court documents saying that attacking power transformers is "the greatest thing somebody can do." He is accused of providing instructions and location information for the substations he and Clendaniel allegedly sought to target as part of their plot. Clendaniel allegedly told an FBI confid
was a ring around baltimore, if they had any number of them all in the same day, they would completely destroy this whole city. fbi officials identified this maryland woman as 34 year old sarah clendaniel, and provided this photo of her, in tactical gear, with a swastika on her chest, armed with multiple weapons, too. they also obtained a document they believed to be written by her, referencing the unabomber and hitler. today, federal officials announced that they had arrested both clendaniel and russell, who they called racially or ethnically motivated extremists. as alleged in the complaint, sarah beth glen daniel and brandon russell conspired to inflict maximum harm on the power grid, a key component of our critical infrastructure. the accused were not just talking, but taking steps to fulfill their threats and further extremist goals. russell provided instructions and location information.
Brandon Russel, 27, the founder of the neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, are alleged to have planned to shoot five electrical substations in the Baltimore area.
"Federal law enforcement officials have arrested two people accused of conspiring to “completely destroy Baltimore” in what they described on Monday as a racist plot to demolish the power grid in a predominantly Black city."