Three men with suspected ties to white supremacist groups have been sentenced to prison for plotting a racially motivated attack on the U.S. power grid that was ultimately thwarted by federal agents.
Liam Collins, 25, of Rhode Island, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for aiding and abetting the interstate transportation of unregistered firearms, while Paul James Kriskok, 38, of Idaho, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for conspiring to destroy energy facilities.
Justin Wade Hermanson, 25, of North Carolina, will soon begin serving a 21-month sentence for conspiracy to manufacture and transport firearms interstate.
Federal investigators discovered that Collins and Hermanson were serving in the same U.S. Marine Corps unit at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, at the time they were planning the conspiracy.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Court documents describe how in 2016, Kriscook, Collins and Hermanson “researched, discussed and considered” a previous attack on the substation by an unknown individual using an assault rifle.
Federal agents allege Kriskok manufactured the firearms for the planned attack between 2017 and 2020. During the same period, Collins allegedly stole military equipment “including magazines for assault rifles” and had them delivered to Kriskok and Hermanson.
Investigators say the trio had extensive information on firearms, explosives and neurotoxins, and in late 2020 identified 12 potential targets, including transformers and substations, in Idaho and surrounding northwestern states.
“As self-described members of the ‘modern-day SS,’ these defendants conspired, prepared and trained to attack America’s power grid in order to advance a violent white supremacist ideology,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. “These sentences reflect both the egregiousness of their plot and the Department of Justice’s determination to hold accountable those who seek to use violence to undermine our democracy.”
The Justice Department said Collins and Kriskok were members of the neo-Nazi forum Iron March and were frequent contributors to the site before it was shut down in 2017.
“Collins and Chris Cook met through the forums and expanded the group by using encrypted messaging applications as an alternative means of communication outside of the forums,” the Justice Department statement read. “Collins and Chris Cook recruited additional members, including Hermanson, and conducted training, including live-fire exercises, in the desert near Boise, Idaho.”
Investigators found video footage of the men training, and at one point they were seen making “Heil Hitler” signs, according to prosecutors.
