A Catonsville, Maryland, woman was sentenced to prison on Wednesday for conspiring to damage or destroy electrical facilities near Baltimore, Maryland. She and her co-conspirators planned to carry out the plot for white supremacist reasons to destroy society.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy earlier this year, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, followed by life on probation. Co-conspirator Brandon C. Russell of Florida is also awaiting trial on a conspiracy charge to damage or destroy electrical facilities in Maryland.
“Anyone who seeks to attack our nation's critical infrastructure will face the full force of the United States Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Sarah Beth Clendaniel targeted five Baltimore City electrical substations in an attempt to 'totally destroy' the city as a means to further her violent white supremacist ideology. She will spend the next 18 years in federal prison. The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously confront, disrupt, and prosecute those who seek to launch these types of hate-driven attacks that target our nation's critical infrastructure, endanger entire cities, and threaten our national security.”
Clendaniel and Russell met in 2018 and both advocated for white nationalist “accelerationism,” a concept based on white supremacists' belief that the current system is irreparable and has no political solution, and therefore that violent acts are necessary to bring down the government, the Justice Department explained.
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A woman believed to be Clendaniel is seen wearing tactical gear featuring a swastika, carrying a rifle and a pistol in a drop holster on her left leg. (FBI)
Between December 2022 and February 2023, Clendaniel, Russell and others allegedly planned to attack energy facilities in the Baltimore area and disrupt the city's power supply.
Clendaniel pleaded guilty and admitted to using encrypted communications applications to communicate and plan attacks on energy facilities.
According to the Department of Justice, both Clendaniel and Russell allegedly communicated plans to attack the Baltimore power grid to a classified source (CHS-1). The plans began to come together on January 12, 2023, when CHS-1 and Russell discussed an attack that would involve striking multiple substations simultaneously.
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Sarah Beth Clendaniel also appears in another photograph attached to the affidavit of Special Agent in Charge Patrick W. Straub of the FBI's Baltimore Division's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). (FBI)
Clendaniel sent a message to CHS-1 using the screen name “Nythra88,” confirming his support for the attack.
Clendaniel told sources that he lives near Baltimore, is a felon, and has tried unsuccessfully to obtain a rifle. Clendaniel has asked CHS-1 to purchase a rifle from him within the next few weeks because he wants to “accomplish something worthwhile.”
Throughout the conversation, Clendaniel told the informant he had identified several possible target locations, adding that the informant was the driver and that he would be the shooter.
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Sarah Clendaniel, 34, is one of two people accused of plotting attacks on five electrical substations in Maryland. (Photo courtesy of Maryland State Police) (Maryland State Police)
According to the Department of Justice, Clendaniel told sources on January 29, 2023, that he planned to target five electrical substations, including those in Norrisville, Reisterstown and Perry Hall. He said there was a “loop” around Baltimore City and that attacking multiple substations on the same day would “totally destroy the entire city.”
She said the substation Clendaniel planned to destroy was what she called its “core,” and that “if you put four or five bullets into the center of it,” that would not only cause oil to leak but “destroy the core.”
“If it succeeds, the city will be completely abandoned forever,” Clendaniel reportedly told the confidential source.
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FILE – Brandon Russell is seen in this June 7, 2017 photo provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. A Maryland woman conspired with a neo-Nazi leader from Florida to attack multiple electrical substations in the Baltimore area, authorities said Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. Sarah Beth Clendaniel of Baltimore County conspired with Russell, who was recently arrested in Florida, to shoot up substations in “sniper attacks” to disable the power grid and “say that she wants to totally destroy this entire city,” according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday. ((Pinellas County Sheriff's Office via The Associated Press, File))
The Justice Department also said that during Clendaniel's conversations with the confidential source, Clendaniel sent five links to “open infrastructure maps” showing the locations of five substations for Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE). BGE uses substations like the one Clendaniel targeted to produce and distribute energy.
Three of the five substations were in Norrisville, Reisterstown and Perry Hall, and the other two were in Baltimore City.
The Department of Justice alleges that Russell and Clendaniel believed removing the five substations would be “accelerationist” and lead to the breakdown of society.
Law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Clendaniel's residence on February 23, 2023, ultimately recovering various firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Clendaniel is a felon convicted of robbery in 2006 and attempted robbery in 2016, meaning he is illegally permitted to possess a firearm.
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She pleaded guilty to conspiracy and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
