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A white supremacist was arrested this week in New Jersey, the Justice Department (DOJ) revealed Thursday.
The DOJ reported that 18-year-old Andrew Takhistov was apprehended on Wednesday at the Newark Liberty International Airport where he was waiting to board a plane to Paris before going to Ukraine to join the Russian Volunteer Corps, which the Associated Press described as a “pro-Ukrainian group fighting Russian forces.” Officials believe Takhistov was involved in a plot to attack a U.S. electrical substation to advance his white supremacist views.
Concerns about US critical infrastructure
Wednesday: @RFJ_USA announces reward of up to $10 million for info on anyone targeting critical infrastructure
Thursday: @TheJusticeDept announces arrest of 18yo #NewJersey man, charged w/soliciting someone to destroy energy facilities pic.twitter.com/50wENYi9Td
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) July 11, 2024
From AP:
Authorities say Takhistov began talking in January with the person he did not realize was an undercover agent, and he began discussing a plan to attack an electrical substation. They drove together to two electrical substations in North Brunswick and New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Takhistov provided information on how to construct Molotov cocktails, the type of clothing to wear and where to park to avoid detection, authorities said.
He also discussed various “strategies for terrorist attacks, including rocket and explosives attacks against synagogues,” and expressed a desire to bring back illegal supplies from Ukraine in order to carry out attacks that would threaten the U.S. government, a law enforcement official wrote in court papers.
Officials say Takhistov also shared his white supremacist views with the undercover agent, and on social media, he “encouraged violence against Black and Jewish communities, praised mass shooters, and discussed causing death and destruction on a large scale,” according to New Jersey U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.
It’s unclear what the connection is between white supremacists and random substations, but this isn’t the first time suspected hate group members were arrested for allegedly trying to attack a power grid. Early last year, the FBI announced the arrests of two terrorists and suspected terrorists, Sarah Clendaniel and Brandon Russell, who allegedly conspired to attack Baltimore, Maryland’s power grid in what the bureau believed was a “racially motivated” plot. Russell, of Orlando, is the founder of Atomwaffen Division, an international neo-Nazi group, and Clendaniel, who pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to damage or destroy electrical facilities in Maryland, also shared white supremacist views, according to her family members.
Neo-Nazi Couple Arrested for Plotting to Destroy Baltimore’s Power Grid https://t.co/e0g1UQ6O8O
— #TuckFrump (@realTuckFrumper) February 6, 2023
As for Takhistov, he also told the undercover agent “that rallies and protests would not work; rather, people were waiting for a big event, such as the Oklahoma City bombing,” according to Sellinger, who also noted that Takhistov said his “ultimate dream was to attack a synagogue with a Hamas-style rocket.”
Now is as good a time as any to remind you that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said repeatedly that white supremacists represent America’s greatest terrorism threat.
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