3 men sentenced for racist conspiracy plot to destroy Northwest power grid

Three men were sentenced to prison for their roles in plotting to attack an energy facility to further their "violent white supremacist ideology," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Friday.

Federal officials did not identify the specific location of the facility but court documents say agents seized a handwritten list of about a dozen locations in Idaho and surrounding states that contained "a transformer, substation, or other component of the power grid for the Northwest United States."

“As part a self-described ‘modern day SS,’ these defendants conspired, prepared, and trained to attack America’s power grid in order to advance their violent white supremacist ideology,” said Garland said.

The three men - Paul James Kryscuk, 38 of Idaho; Liam Collins, 25 of Rhode Island; and Justin Wade Hermanson, 25 of North Carolina - were given sentences ranging from 21 months to 10 years for their roles in conspiracy and firearms offenses. Garland said the men met on a now-closed neo-Nazi forum called the "Iron March," researching and discussing former power grid attacks.

Their sentencing is the latest development in energy attacks across the U.S. by saboteurs looking to blow up or cripple power grids. People vandalized or shot at power substations in Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington state, causing major power outages in one instance.

Garland said in the case of the three men, they wanted to use violence to "undermine our democracy."

Men stole military gear, trained for the attacks

The Justice Department said in a statement the men, part of a five-person 2021 indictment, spent time between 2017 and 2020 manufacturing firearms, stealing military equipment and gathering information on explosives and toxins for the attack.

Collins and co-defendant Jordan Duncan, of North Carolina, were former Marines, stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and used their status to illegally obtain military equipment and information for the plot. According to the indictment, they wanted to use 50 pounds of homemade explosives to destroy transformers.

The men could be seen in a propaganda video wearing Atomwaffen masks and giving the "Heil Hitler" sign. The Southern Poverty Law Center designated Atomwaffen as a terroristic neo-Nazi group.

"In October 2020, a handwritten list of approximately one dozen intersections and places in Idaho and surrounding states was discovered in Kryscuk’s possession, including intersections and places containing a transformer, substation, or other component of the power grid for the northwest United States," the department wrote this week.

FBI, Justice Department fight against power grid attacks

The three prison sentences follow just two weeks after the FBI arrested a New Jersey man in connection with a white supremacist attack on a power grid.

Federal agents arrested Andrew Takhistov at an airport after he allegedly instructed an undercover law enforcement officer to destroy an N.J. energy facility with Molotov cocktails while he fought in Ukraine. Takhistov was en route to join the Russian Volunteer Corps, a Russian militia fighting for Ukraine.

Prosecutors allege Takhistov wanted to achieve white domination and encouraged violence against ethnic and religious minorities.

In 2023, the Department of Homeland Security warned that domestic extremists have been developing plans since at least 2020 to physically attack energy infrastructure for civil unrest. The attacks, especially during extreme temperatures could threaten American lives, the department wrote.

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.