Neo-Nazi leader found guilty in plot to attack Baltimore power grid

5/2/2025 11:28

A neo-Nazi leader accused of plotting to attack Baltimore's power grid has been found guilty of conspiring to damage an energy facility, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.



Brandon Russell of Orlando, Florida and an associate were arrested in February 2023 after the FBI thwarted their plan with the help of a confidential informant.



The Justice Department said in a statement, evidence presented at trial showed that between November 2022 and that month, Russell conspired to attack transformers within electrical substations "in furtherance of his racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist beliefs."



The department said, Russell posted links to open-source infrastructure maps and described how a small number of attacks on substations could cause a "cascading failure."



The department said, he recruited a Maryland-based woman to carry out the attacks in order to interrupt and impair the power grid in Baltimore, Maryland's largest city.