Florida man convicted of conspiracy to destroy power grid

ORLANDO, Fla. — A jury has found a Florida man guilty of conspiring to damage critical energy infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.

Brandon Russell, 29, of Orlando, was convicted of plotting to attack electrical substations to further his neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology. Evidence presented at trial revealed that from November 2022 to Feb. 3, 2023, Mr Russell conspired to target transformers in a plan to cause widespread power outages.

According to prosecutors, Russell shared links to open-source maps showing substation locations and explained how coordinated attacks could lead to a “cascading failure.”

He recruited Sarah Beth Clendaniel, a Maryland woman, to carry out the attacks in the Baltimore area, identifying five substations as targets. Ms Clendaniel stated the attacks could “completely destroy this whole city” and discussed how a few well-placed shots could achieve the intended damage.

Mr Russell faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on June 17.

Ms Clendaniel, who collaborated with Russell, was sentenced on Sept. 25, 2024, to 18 years in prison for conspiracy and an additional 15 years for firearm possession. Her actions included plans to use a weapon Russell tried to procure for her.

The FBI conducted the investigation, while the case was prosecuted by the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.