An American right-wing extremist was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years in prison for a planned attack against electrical infrastructure around Baltimore, near Washington, where the majority of the population is black.
Sarah Clendaniel, 36, was arrested in February 2023 in Maryland (east) at the same time as one of her relatives, Brandon Russell, co-founder of the American neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen in Florida (southeast).
Both belong to the “accelerationist” movement of white supremacism, which was structured in the United States and inspired perpetrators of attacks around the world, aiming to precipitate a “racial war” which it considers inevitable, according to the ‘charge.
Sarah Clendaniel pleaded guilty in May 2024 to planning to attack electrical infrastructure in Maryland and to illegal possession of a weapon due to her criminal record.
She was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years and 15 years in prison respectively for each of these counts, sentences which she will serve concurrently.
“Sarah Beth Clendaniel wanted to “completely destroy” the city of Baltimore by targeting five installations in the name of her violent white supremacist ideology,” Justice Minister Merrick Garland responded in a statement.
“The defendant wanted to paralyze the power grid throughout the Baltimore region and harm thousands of people to carry out a racially motivated violent extremist program,” also underlined Christopher Wray, director of the American Federal Police (FBI).
