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Baltimore County woman pleads guilty to conspiring with neo-Nazi leader to attack energy grid

Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, of Catonsville, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to conspiracy to damage an energy facility and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. (Handout)
Handout
Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, of Catonsville, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to conspiracy to damage an energy facility and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

A woman on Tuesday admitted to scheming with a neo-Nazi leader to destroy electrical substations surrounding Baltimore in an attack that she told a confidential FBI source would be “legendary” and “probably permanently completely lay this city to waste.”

Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, of Catonsville, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to conspiracy to damage an energy facility and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Gavin said the government will recommend a punishment at sentencing on Sept. 3 that does not exceed 18 years in prison.

Clendaniel admitted that she conspired with Brandon Russell, a neo-Nazi leader who founded Atomwaffen Division, which the FBI described as a racially or ethnically motivated extremist group with cells in several states.

The group follows an ideology called accelerationism, which believes the current government system is unworkable and looks at causing the collapse of society through violence.

The story continues at The Baltimore Banner: Baltimore County woman pleads guilty to conspiring with neo-Nazi leader to attack energy grid

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