Federal authorities arrested a woman from Maryland, and a man from Florida, accused of targeting BGE electrical substations for attacks..
Charges have been filed against Sarah Beth Clendaniel of Catonsville and Brandon Clint Russell of Orlando, Florida.
"The accused were not just talking but taking steps to fulfill their threats and further their extremist goals," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Thomas Sobocinski.
According to a news release, Russell posted links on open-source maps of infrastructure, which included locations of electrical substations, saying that a small number of attacks on those substations would cause a "cascading failure."
"As the criminal complaint alleges, Clendaniel and Russell conspired and took steps to shoot multiple electrical substations in the Baltimore area aiming to "completely destroy this whole city," said Erek Barron, U.S. Attorney for the Maryland District.
But prosecutors say the plan was stopped by federal law enforcement, helped by local agencies, including Maryland State Police and Baltimore County Police.
"This collaborative effort is vital to protecting critical infrastructure across Maryland, and I’m grateful to the men and women protecting our state,” said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in a statement.
Investigators say Clendaniel, with Russell, an alleged Neo-nazi leader, wanted to use guns to attack five substations, including the one in Norrisville and two others in the vicinity of Baltimore city.
"Had they been successful, it could have been very problematic for Baltimore," said Richard Kolko, a retired FBI special agent with an expertise in counter-terrorism.
Kolko says, unfortunately, attacks on electrical grids have become quite common, plunging thousands of Americans into darkness last year.
Kolko says for those aimed at doing harm, substations are ideal so-called soft targets.
"A lot of the substations, they're in places that are kind of off the beaten path. They're not necessarily protected. They don't have a security system that can immediately stop this attack," said Kolko.
Prosecutors say the suspects, in this case, wanted to call attention to their racial and ethnic, violent extremist beliefs.
Prosecutors released a photo of Clendaniel wearing tactical gear containing a swastika, holding a rifle, and with a pistol in a drop holster on her left leg.
Investigators say the suspects had been planning to attack Maryland substations since June last year.
"The FBI believe this was a real threat. Our hope is that it would have been minimal but we couldn't be able to tell you what that result would look like," said Sobocinski.
"While these people are in jail right now, they're not the last people who are going to try to do this," said Kolko. So, law enforcement is counting on those tips that we've heard for so long..if you see something, say something."
BGE released a statement, saying in part:
Law enforcement acted before the perpetrators were able to carry out their plan, and there was no damage to any of the substations, nor was any service disrupted. The substations are not believed to have been targeted out of any connection to BGE or Exelon, or because of any particular vulnerability.