A Maryland woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a plot to attack the Baltimore power grid with a Florida neo-Nazi leader.
Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, and co-conspirator Brandon Russell, the founder of the group Atomwaffen Division, conspired to shoot up five electrical substations in the greater Baltimore area in order to “break down society,” according to a court filing.
The pair began writing to each other around 2018 while both were imprisoned on unrelated charges. They began a romantic relationship which continued after they were released, the court filing says.
Clendaniel and Russell allegedly shared white supremacist ideology and considered themselves “accelerationists” who aimed to bring about societal collapse through mass violence.
But their plot to attack the power stations in Baltimore itself collapsed after they discussed their plans with a government informant in January 2023, according to prosecutors. They were both arrested and charged soon after.
Clendaniel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to damage electrical facilities, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, which is punishable by up to 15 years.
Russell is charged with conspiracy to damage electrical facilities and is awaiting trial.
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