A Maryland woman has been charged for plotting with a Florida neo-Nazi leader to attack the power grid in Baltimore.
The plan involved disabling several electrical substations in the Baltimore area, city officials said on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Sarah Beth Clendaniel, of Baltimore County, was arrested and accused of attempting to carry out the plan with neo-Nazi leader Brandon Russell, who was arrested recently in Florida. The pair had planned to carry out a power grid attack in Maryland by using “sniper attacks” to disable electrical substations, the criminal complaint released on Monday said.
Clendaniel allegedly said she wanted to “completely destroy this whole city.”
The suspect plotted to attack five substations located around Baltimore, the complaint added.
“It would probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully,” Clendaniel told a confidential informant, the complaint detailed.
According to officials, Russell has long been tied to various white supremacist groups espousing neo-Nazi beliefs.
The complaint also included a photo of Clendaniel dressed in tactical gear that had a swastika on it. She was pictured holding a rifle.
The power company that runs Baltimore’s electrical grid, Baltimore Gas and Electric, said on Monday that no damage had been caused to city substations and there were no current threats.
“We have a long-standing partnership with law enforcement and state and federal regulators of the grid to secure critical infrastructure. This work is even more important now as threats have increased in recent years,” the company said in a statement.