Woman sentenced to prison for conspiring to destroy Baltimore power grid to further white supremacist ideology

According to the Department of Justice, Sarah Beth Clendaniel was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison by a judge Wednesday. Additionally, she will spend a lifetime under supervised release. Her prison sentence will run concurrent to another 15-year sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

“This planned attack threatened lives and would have left thousands of Marylanders in the cold and dark,” said Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron upon Clendaniel's arrest in 2023. Following her sentencing, Barron said such cowardice would not be tolerated. 

According to a plea agreement, Clendaniel conspired with a Florida man named Brandon C. Russell, who is still awaiting trial. The pair shared white supremacist beliefs and advocated for a concept known as "accelerationism," which believes the current system is irreparable and requires violent actions to precipitate societal and government collapse. 

“Sarah Beth Clendaniel sought to ‘completely destroy’ the city of Baltimore by targeting five power substations as a means of furthering her violent white supremacist ideology," according to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

The two reportedly discussed plans to attack Baltimore's regional power grid from at least Dec. 2022 through Feb. 2023. According to court documents, Clendaniel told a Confidential Human Source (CHS) that she was a felon who had previously lost a rifle. She said she was "determined to do this" while discussing the attack and added that she would have done something earlier on her own if she had not lost her rifle. She then tasked CHS with obtaining a new rifle for her and sending a "wish list" for the desired weapon. 

“The defendant plotted to disable the power grid around the entire Baltimore region and cause harm to thousands of people in pursuit of a racially motivated violent extremist agenda,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. 

Officials said the five substations targeted in the attack included Norrisville, Reisterstown, and Perry Hall. On Jan. 29, 2023, Clendaniel reportedly described how there was a “ring” around Baltimore and if they hit a number of them all in the same day, they “would completely destroy this whole city.” Further, she stated that “[i]t would probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully.”

A search warrant was served at Clendaniel's home five days later, on Feb. 3, 2023. During that search, agents found various firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.