18-year-old arrested in white supremacist plot targeting New Jersey power grid
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An 18-year-old New Jersey man allegedly en route to join a paramilitary force in Ukraine was arrested at an airport this week after sharing his plan with an undercover law enforcement operative to destroy an electrical substation as part of his white supremacist ideology, according to federal prosecutors.
Andrew Takhistov instructed the officer to destroy a New Jersey energy facility with Molotov cocktails while he was overseas, detailing how to evade surveillance cameras, discreet parking locations, and escape plans, according to federal court papers.
He also spent months discussing steps to achieve “white domination” and encouraged violence against ethnic and religious minorities, court filings said. Takhistov was allegedly planning to travel to Ukraine to join the Russian Volunteer Corps, a Russian militia fighting for Ukraine.
“Imagine the chaos and number of life-threatening emergencies if a large population of people in New Jersey lost power in the middle of the current heat wave,” FBI Newark Special Agent in Charge James Dennehy said in a statement.
The foiled plot in New Jersey is the latest to sweep the nation amid concerns about attacks on U.S. power grids. Several states, including Florida, Oregon and the Carolinas have faced targets on electric infrastructure in recent years. In May, a Maryland woman pleaded guilty to plotting to destroy the Baltimore power grid as part of a white supremacist ideology that promotes government collapse.
Content retrieved from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/12/plot-destroy-power-grid-white-supremacy/74387632007/.
