The Florida leader of a Neo-Nazi group has been found guilty of planning to attack the Maryland power grid.
Brandon Russell, 29, of Orlando, was found guilty in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore of one count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility after the jury deliberated for less than an hour following a six-day trial.
Russell, the founder of Atomwaffen Division, plotted to attack electrical substations in the Baltimore area and throw the city into chaos, prosecutors said.
His co-conspirator, 36-year-old Sarah Beth Clendaniel, pleaded guilty last May for her role in the terroristic plan. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, Russell recruited Clendaniel and was advising her on how to acquire weapons and which substations to target, with the plan calling for a number of incidents across months in hopes of causing a “cascading failure.”
The two were arrested in 2023.
Russell faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. He’s being held at the Chesapeake Detention Facility with sentencing scheduled for a later date.
“Hate-fueled violence has no place in a civilized society,” Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek Barron said. “Brandon Russell went well beyond his First Amendment rights, orchestrating a terrorist plot that would’ve harmed thousands of innocent people. It won’t always be popular, but this office will do the right thing, the right way, for the right reason.”