Neo-Nazi leader found guilty of plotting attack on Maryland power grid

BALTIMORE — Brandon Russell, the leader of a neo-Nazi group, was found guilty of conspiring to attack Maryland’s power grid in a terrorist plot, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Russell, 29, from Orlando, Florida, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility after a jury deliberated for less than an hour on Monday. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Russell and Sara Beth Clendaniel plotted to blow up several BGE substations within the Baltimore region in 2023. Russell, a co-founder of Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi organization, admitted to holding national socialist or neo-Nazi beliefs and subscribing to accelerationism, a white supremacist belief that the current government needs to be violently overthrown to create societal and government collapse.

“Hate-fueled violence has no place in a civilized society. Brandon Russell went well beyond his First Amendment rights, orchestrating a terrorist plot that would have harmed thousands of innocent people,” said Erek L. Barron, the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. “It won’t always be popular, but this office will do the right thing, the right way, for the right reason.” Clendaniel, 36, from Catonsville, accepted a plea deal in September 2024 and was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.