Self-proclaimed neo-Nazi found guilty of conspiring to attack electrical infrastructure

A federal jury Monday convicted an avowed neo-Nazi of plotting to attack energy infrastructure serving Baltimore, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland announced.

Prosecutors in the six-day trial argued that Brandon Russell, 29, of Orlando, Florida, conspired from November 2022 to February 3, 2023, to carry out attacks against transformers and electrical substations in furtherance of Russell’s racially motivated extremist beliefs. Russell allegedly planned to cause a “cascading failure” with a small number of attacks on infrastructure.

“Today’s verdict reinforces there is no tolerance for those who seek to harm our communities and use violence to further hate-filled beliefs,” special agent in Charge William J. DelBagno said in a statement.

Russell recruited a Maryland-based woman, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, to help carry out the attacks in Baltimore and elsewhere. In September, Clendaniel, 36, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for allegedly conspiring with Russell in the attacks.

The intended monetary loss associated with the planned attacks would have exceeded $75 million, according to the Maryland attorney’s office.