Three men were sentenced to prison for plotting to attack an energy facility to further their violent white supremacist ideology, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland. While the location of the facility was not identified, court documents revealed a list of potential targets in Idaho and surrounding states containing components of the power grid for the Northwest United States. The men, Paul James Kryscuk, Liam Collins, and Justin Wade Hermanson, were given sentences ranging from 21 months to 10 years for conspiracy and firearms offenses. They met on a neo-Nazi forum called the “Iron March” and researched former power grid attacks. The men stole military gear, trained for the attacks, and wanted to use violence to undermine democracy.
The Justice Department stated that the men, along with others, spent years manufacturing firearms, stealing military equipment, and gathering information on explosives and toxins for the planned attack. Former Marines Collins and Jordan Duncan used their status to illegally obtain military equipment and information for the plot. The men were seen in a propaganda video wearing Atomwaffen masks and giving the “Heil Hitler” sign.
These sentencing come shortly after the arrest of a New Jersey man, Andrew Takhistov, in connection with a white supremacist attack on a power grid. Takhistov allegedly instructed an undercover officer to destroy a New Jersey energy facility with Molotov cocktails while he fought in Ukraine. The Department of Homeland Security warned in 2023 that domestic extremists have been planning to physically attack energy infrastructure since at least 2020, posing a threat to American lives, especially during extreme temperatures.
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