White Supremacist Sentenced to Prison for Plot Against Baltimore Power Grid, Reports Reuters

A Maryland woman with ties to a neo-Nazi group was sentenced to 18 years in prison after admitting to a plot to attack the power grid in Baltimore, as reported by the U.S. Justice Department and court documents.

Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, intended to target five electrical substations in Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, to advance a white supremacist agenda aimed at destabilizing American society, according to prosecutors.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “The Justice Department will continue to aggressively counter, disrupt, and prosecute those who seek to carry out hate-fueled attacks on our critical infrastructure, which endanger entire cities and pose threats to national security.”

Clendaniel pled guilty in April to conspiracy to damage an energy facility and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Prosecutors revealed Clendaniel had told an associate that a successful execution of the plan “would completely destroy this whole city.”

Her attorney requested a 10-year sentence, citing Clendaniel’s challenging upbringing. The lawyer claimed that she sought purpose and control through destructive beliefs and actions. “Her inherent goodness may at times be buried beneath destructive ideologies, but it is not destroyed,” the attorney expressed.

Clendaniel was charged alongside Brandon Russell, founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division. Russell is currently awaiting trial.