Three men were sentenced to prison for their involvement in a plot to attack an energy facility in order to advance their violent white supremacist ideology. Paul James Kryscuk, Liam Collins, and Justin Wade Hermanson were sentenced for conspiracy and firearms offenses after meeting on a neo-Nazi forum and researching former power grid attacks. The men stole military equipment, manufactured firearms, and gathered information on explosives and toxins for the attack. They were looking to use violence to undermine democracy. The group wanted to destroy transformers with 50 pounds of homemade explosives.
The sentencing of these men comes after a string of energy attacks across the U.S. by saboteurs targeting power grids. The men could be seen in a propaganda video giving the “Heil Hitler” sign and wearing Atomwaffen masks, a terroristic neo-Nazi group. The Department of Homeland Security warned in 2023 that domestic extremists have been developing plans to physically attack energy infrastructure for civil unrest since at least 2020, posing a threat to American lives.
In a separate incident, the FBI arrested Andrew Takhistov for his involvement in a white supremacist attack on a power grid in New Jersey. Takhistov allegedly instructed an undercover officer to destroy an energy facility with Molotov cocktails while he fought in Ukraine. He was en route to join the Russian Volunteer Corps. Prosecutors allege Takhistov wanted to achieve white domination and encouraged violence against ethnic and religious minorities. These cases highlight the ongoing fight against extremists targeting critical infrastructure.
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