MD Neo-Nazi Who Plotted To Destroy Baltimore Power Grid Convicted

BALTIMORE, MD — Brandon C. Russell, 29, a Florida neo-Nazi who prosecutors said hoped to start a race war by an attack that would take out Baltimore's power grid has been convicted of conspiracy.

According to previously released court documents, from at least December 2022 through February 2023, Russell conspired with his girlfriend, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, to damage energy facilities and cause a significant interruption to the Baltimore regional power grid.

The couple planned to destroy substations in Reisterstown, Perry Hall, Norrisville in Harford County and other locations, court documents said.

Jurors deliberated for less than an hour Monday after four days of testimony in federal court in Baltimore before finding Russell guilty of one count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility, WBAL reported. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Russell, a formal Florida National Guard member, is the founder of the violent neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen, which targets racial minorities, the Jewish community, the LGBTQ community, journalists, the United States government, and critical infrastructure, according to court documents.

In a previous case he pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and improper storage of explosive materials after authorities found highly explosive materials, along with neo-Nazi signs, posters, books and flags in his home.

Federal authorities arrested Clendaniel and Russell in February 2024, claiming the duo plotted to shoot up five BGE substations in an attempt to cause a “cascading failure” of the power grid, according to an FBI affidavit.

Clendaniel had previously served prison time after she was arrested in 2016 for robbing a Cecil County convenience store using a machete. Clendaniel embraced a white-supremacist ideology during her time in prison, family members told the Baltimore Sun.

Going by online monikers Homunculus and Kali/Nythra88, respectively, Russell and Clendaniel discussed in depth their plans to "completely lay [Baltimore] to waste," according to the criminal complaint.

Clendaniel described how there was a "ring" around Baltimore and if they hit a number of them all in the same day, they "would completely destroy this whole city" and "help to break down society," according to court documents.

She was sentenced in September after pleading guilty in May 2024 to charges including conspiring to damage or destroy electrical facilities in Maryland and possessing a firearm as a felon.

A judge also sentenced her to a lifetime of supervised release, the Baltimore Banner reported, after prosecutors said she remained in contact with leaders of the so-called Terrorgram Collective while behind bars.