MARYLAND NEWS – Trial begins for neo-Nazi leader plotting power grid attack

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

The founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group is going to trial for conspiring to attack Maryland’s power grid. His beliefs are not the focus of the trial, federal prosecutors said. Instead, they emphasized his willingness to act on these beliefs. The trial is scheduled to last around two weeks in Baltimore federal court. Brandon Russell, 20, encouraged his girlfriend, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, to carry out the power grid attack, hoping it would cause more chaos in furtherance of their shared white supremacist views, according to prosecutors. The two were arrested in February of 2023 before their plans were executed. 

Prosecutor Michael Aubin stated, “Mr. Russell was at war. He was at war for his race—the white race.” According to the prosecution, the pair were planning a series of “sniper attacks” on electrical substations around Baltimore that could have caused significant damage to the regional power grid. Their main goal was to create chaos in the majority-Black city and hope to spur a “race war,” prosecutors claimed. However, Russell’s defense attorney argued that his participation in the plot was minimal, stating that the case was “a setup from the very beginning.” While downplaying Russell’s role, attorney Ian Goldstein pinned the conspiracy on Clendaniel, Russell’s girlfriend, and a confidential informant she connected with through Russell. Clendaniel pleaded guilty and received 18 years in prison in September.