Brandon Russell sentenced to maximum prison term for conspiring to attack Baltimore’s electrical substations in a white supremacist plot to cripple the city.
In a landmark domestic terrorism case, Brandon Russell, the 30-year-old founder of the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison—the maximum allowed—followed by a lifetime of supervised release for plotting to cripple Baltimore’s power grid in a racially motivated attack.
The sentencing, announced Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Maryland, comes after Russell’s conviction earlier this year for conspiring to damage or destroy an energy facility. The plot, prosecutors say, was designed to advance a white supremacist agenda by targeting five electrical substations serving Baltimore, a majority-Black city.
Between November 2022 and his arrest in February 2023, Russell worked with co-conspirator Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 37, of Catonsville, Maryland, to coordinate a simultaneous gunfire assault on the substations. Prosecutors revealed the attack was intended to trigger a cascading blackout, cause more than $75 million in damage, and destabilize the city.
Clendaniel, who prosecutors said was fully committed to the plan, pleaded guilty in September 2024 and received an 18-year sentence.
Russell’s attorney, Ian J. Goldstein, claimed Clendaniel was “more culpable” and announced plans to appeal the verdict, alleging “unlawful warrantless surveillance” of his client.
Russell’s criminal history paints a chilling picture. The Atomwaffen Division founder had already served five years for a separate Florida plot involving an unregistered destructive device and the improper storage of explosive materials—part of an earlier plan to attack power lines.
Prosecutors argued that Russell’s latest conviction underscores the growing threat posed by violent extremist networks seeking to weaponize critical infrastructure as tools of terror.In a landmark domestic terrorism case, Brandon Russell, the 30-year-old founder of the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison—the maximum allowed—followed by a lifetime of supervised release for plotting to cripple Baltimore’s power grid in a racially motivated attack.
The sentencing, announced Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Maryland, comes after Russell’s conviction earlier this year for conspiring to damage or destroy an energy facility. The plot, prosecutors say, was designed to advance a white supremacist agenda by targeting five electrical substations serving Baltimore, a majority-Black city.
Between November 2022 and his arrest in February 2023, Russell worked with co-conspirator Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 37, of Catonsville, Maryland, to coordinate a simultaneous gunfire assault on the substations. Prosecutors revealed the attack was intended to trigger a cascading blackout, cause more than $75 million in damage, and destabilize the city.
Clendaniel, who prosecutors said was fully committed to the plan, pleaded guilty in September 2024 and received an 18-year sentence.
Russell’s attorney, Ian J. Goldstein, claimed Clendaniel was “more culpable” and announced plans to appeal the verdict, alleging “unlawful warrantless surveillance” of his client.
Russell’s criminal history paints a chilling picture. The Atomwaffen Division founder had already served five years for a separate Florida plot involving an unregistered destructive device and the improper storage of explosive materials—part of an earlier plan to attack power lines.
Prosecutors argued that Russell’s latest conviction underscores the growing threat posed by violent extremist networks seeking to weaponize critical infrastructure as tools of terror.
