A group of white supremacists plotted to attack the United States power grid next summer, according to authorities.
The group’s plans were set up to be “operational” by a 2024 timeline with an accelerated option should Trump lose in 2020, which he did. An FBI affidavit for the case, which names three individuals, was accidentally unsealed last week before the mistake was corrected, according to the Associated Press.
One of the individuals named in the affidavit is an Ohio teenager, then 17. The affidavit said he was in a group chat with more than a dozen people. The affidavit said that in fall 2019, he brought up the idea of saving money to buy a ranch where they could engage in military training exercises.
The teenager, who was in favor of the accelerated option should Trump lose, told a smaller group of individuals about a plot to damage the power grid by shooting rifle rounds into the power stations in the southeastern part of the country, according to authorities. This plot, dubbed “Light’s Out,” was supposed to be carried out next summer.
An unnamed informant told investigators that the teenager “definitely wanted to be operational for violence, but also activism.”
Another group member named in the affidavit, a Texas native, allegedly texted the informant, “Leaving the power off would wake people up to the harsh reality of life by wreaking havoc across the nation.”
The third member named, who is from Wisconsin, allegedly told the teenager that “I can say with absolute certainty that I will die for this effort. I swear it on my life,” and the Ohio teenager agreed. Authorities said the Wisconsin man told an undercover FBI employee last February that the group was looking to take “direct action” against the system and said, “If you truly want a fascist society I will put in the effort to work with you but recruitment is long and not going to be easy.”
He also outlined a “radicalization” process designed to instill a “revolutionary mindset,” according to authorities.
The group members shared white supremacist ideology, recommended readings on the topic to one another, and required a “uniform” to demonstrate their commitment to their beliefs. The investigation continues, and no charges have been publicly filed. The Ohio teenager, according to authorities, repeatedly suggested creating Nazi militant cells around the country similar to the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi network.
“While we are unable to provide further information at this time due to the ongoing investigation, we want to emphasize that there is no imminent public safety threat related to this matter,” Jennifer Thornton, a representative from the U.S. Southern District of Ohio, told the Washington Examiner.
White supremacists in the United States represent the “most persistent and lethal threat” of violent domestic extremists, according to a study released this fall by the Department of Homeland Security. White supremacist extremists killed more than 35 people in attacks on the public in 2018 and 2019, three times more than the number of people killed by homegrown violent extremists, a separate category from white supremacists, and all other domestic violent extremist attacks those years, according to DHS.
