A Maryland woman confessed to a sinister plot aimed at plunging Baltimore into darkness with an electric grid attack.
“Accelerationist” plots electric grid attack
Sarah Beth Clendaniel has been charged with planning to sabotage the city’s power infrastructure in an effort to propagate her radical beliefs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced.
In her plea, Clendaniel admitted to collaborating with Brandon C. Russell, a resident of Florida, using secure messaging apps to devise a plan that targeted five critical Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) substations surrounding Baltimore.
Their objective, driven by the extremist ideology of “accelerationism,” was to trigger a catastrophic failure of the city’s power system.
According to the press release, the ideology, which is rooted in a “white supremacist belief,” advocates for the destruction of the current societal system, believing it to be beyond repair and arguing that violent upheaval is the only solution.
In her messages, Clendaniel expressed her desire to “completely destroy this whole city” and believed that their plan could “probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully.”
She, along with Russell, meticulously studied the “Open Infrastructure Map” to target the major BGE substations located near Norrisville, Reisterstown, and Perry Hall, and within the city of Baltimore itself.
How a confidential informant foiled an electric grid attack on Baltimore
The pair of would-be domestic terrorists idiotically shared their plans with a confidential informant, both together and separately, with the hope of inciting a “cascading failure” of the electrical grid.
Clendaniel also sought the informant’s assistance in acquiring a rifle, despite admitting to being legally barred from owning firearms due to her past felony convictions for robbery in 2006 and attempted robbery in 2016.
She confided in the informant that she was “determined to do this” and aimed to “accomplish as much as possible before June, at the latest.” The suspect also revealed that she would have attempted a solo attack had she not misplaced her rifle “a few months ago.”
Both Clendaniel and Russell bragged to the informant how their planned attacks would hasten the collapse of society and further their anti-society cause of accelerationism.
On February 3rd, as their plans neared fruition, federal agents raided Clendaniel’s residence, recovering several firearms and ammunition from her bedroom.
If convicted, Clendaniel faces a sentence of up to 20 years for conspiracy charges and an additional 15 years for weapons possession.
Her sentencing is scheduled for September 3rd. Meanwhile, Russell awaits his trial on conspiracy charges.
Marine plots to “erase” white people with terror attack
In other recently revealed terrorist plots, federal authorities arrested a former Marine from New Jersey on Friday, accusing him of making threats against white people and planning a mass shooting.
23-year-old Trenton resident Joshua Cobb made alarming statements on social media in December 2022, stating, “I want to cause mayhem on the white community” and “I want to erase them,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Cobb, who said he was black online, lamented the challenges faced by young men in America, particularly those from impoverished and black backgrounds.
He posted about his frustration over these systemic obstacles, stating his desire to bring suffering to affluent white people who, in his view, are ignorant of the struggles faced by others.
In a December 17, 2022 post, Cobb declared his intentions to conduct a mass shooting in the new year, claiming, “As of today I have officially began planning my attack,” and revealed that he had acquired two of the four guns needed for his plan.
Cobb had joined the Marine Corps, undergoing basic training in South Carolina from June to October of 2023, more than six months after making the posts and was stationed at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, by February.
When interviewed by the FBI at the California Marine base, Cobb confirmed the social media accounts were his and disclosed his ongoing homicidal thoughts.
He told investigators that he actively fantasized about targeting places frequented by affluent white people, like gyms or grocery stores, aiming to “bring the pain to them.”
Fortunately, federal law enforcement got involved before he was able to execute his master plan.
Cobb now faces charges for transmitting a threat across state and international borders, a crime that carries a potential five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. He was discharged from the Marines prior to May 10.
