Three men have been sentenced to prison for plotting to attack an energy facility in order to advance their violent white supremacist ideology. The men, identified as Paul James Kryscuk, Liam Collins, and Justin Wade Hermanson, were part of a group that conspired, prepared, and trained to target the power grid in the Northwest United States. They met on a now-closed neo-Nazi forum called the “Iron March” and researched former power grid attacks.
The Department of Justice said the men spent years manufacturing firearms, stealing military equipment, and gathering information on explosives and toxins for the attack. Collins and co-defendant Jordan Duncan, both former Marines, illegally obtained military equipment and led the plot to destroy transformers with homemade explosives. The men were also seen in propaganda videos wearing Atomwaffen masks and giving the “Heil Hitler” sign.
The sentencing of these men comes after a string of power grid attacks across the U.S. by saboteurs seeking to cause major disruptions. The FBI recently arrested another man, Andrew Takhistov, in connection with a white supremacist attack on an energy facility. Takhistov, who was en route to fight in Ukraine, allegedly instructed an undercover officer to destroy a facility with Molotov cocktails.
The Department of Homeland Security has warned of domestic extremists planning to attack energy infrastructure, posing a threat to American lives, especially during extreme temperatures. The FBI and Department of Justice are actively working to prevent such attacks and prosecute those involved in order to protect national security.
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