Month: February 2023

Two white supremacists — a Florida man and a Maryland woman — have been arrested on federal charges of plotting to attack multiple energy substation with the goal of destroying Baltimore. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that the suspects, Sarah Clendaniel of Catonsville, Maryland, and Brandon Russell of Orlando, Florida, were allegedly fueled by a racist extremist ideology as they “conspired to inflict maximum harm” on the power grid with the aim to “completely destroy” Baltimore.

U.S. Attorney Erek Barron and a top FBI official said at a Monday morning press conference that Russell — the founder of the notorious neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen — is quoted in court documents saying that attacking power transformers is “the greatest thing somebody can do.” He is accused of providing instructions and location information for the substations he and Clendaniel allegedly sought to target as part of their plot.  Clendaniel allegedly told an FBI confidential source she was “determined” to carry out the attacks aimed at Baltimore’s infrastructure, saying, “It would lay this city to waste.”

Thomas Sobocinski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore field office, said: “Their actions threatened the electricity and heat of our homes, hospitals and businesses. The FBI believes this was a real threat.” Sobocinski said the two suspects “had extremist views” and believed that by conducting the attacks, they would bring further light to their views. Sobocinski declined to go into specifics when pressed by reporters.

Russell and Clendaniel were both out on probation as they coordinated their plans to attack the energy facilities. Russell had previously pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of possessing an unregistered destructive device and was sentenced to five years in prison. According to an affidavit, Clendaniel allegedly said she planned to target five substations in the Baltimore area on the same day — including ones in Norrisville, Reisterstown and Perry Hall.

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Officials on Monday released toxic chemicals that had been carried on a train which derailed over the weekend in eastern Ohio, after warnings that the chemicals could be deadly if inhaled by the public in surrounding areas.

The release of vinyl chloride was completed late Monday afternoon after evacuations were expanded from East Palestine, Ohio, the site of Friday night’s derailment, to an adjacent community in Pennsylvania. Vinyl chloride is a toxic, flammable gas used to produce vehicle interiors and PVC piping,  According to the train’s operator, Norfolk Southern, the release was “successfully completed, ” adding that a burn off of material would continue past nightfall.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday night 500 people had defied orders to leave, but on Monday he believed all had left. The Ohio National Guard was deployed to the area late Sunday, and authorities went door-to-door urging stragglers to move out, DeWine said at a news conference Monday, warning: “those in the red area are facing grave danger of death if they are still in that area.” A federal Emergency Alert System message on Monday urged residents in East Palestine and Pennsylvania’s Darlington Township to leave immediately.

Officials said at the news conference that two of five train cars believed to be carrying vinyl chloride were likely filled with the gas, and temperature changes could have set it off, forcing officials to either release a gas known for its deadly potential if inhaled, or stand back for an extended period of time amid the potential for an explosion at the derailment site. “The vinyl chloride contents of five rail cars are currently unstable and could potentially explode, causing deadly disbursement of shrapnel and toxic fumes,” Gov. DeWine said.

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Diplomatic tensions continued to rise on Sunday as officials in Beijing blasted the U.S. for shooting a Chinese spy balloon out of the sky. Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China’s Defense Ministry, described the move as “a clear overreaction,” saying in a statement Sunday that his country reserved “the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations.” China’s Foreign Ministry also said in a statement it was “a serious violation of international customary practice.”  China described the balloon as a “civilian unmanned airship,” and previously said it was used for research and “meteorological purposes.”

The massive white orb was first spotted over Montana — home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, the site of one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields. The orb was about the size of three school buses, and from Montana headed southeastward over Kansas and Missouri at around 60,000 to 65,000 feet.

The U.S. Defense Department confirmed on Saturday afternoon that an American F-22 Raptor shot down what they described as the “high-altitude surveillance balloon,” with a single missile off South Carolina. The U.S. military plans to salvage parts of the craft from a debris field that spans about 7 nautical miles. President Joe Biden told reporters after the orb was shot down that he gave the order after he was briefed about it Wednesday, but that the Pentagon “decided that the best time to do that was when it got over water.”

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Home evacuations remain in place for dozens in northeastern Ohio following a train derailment which ignited a massive fire.  Luckily, no one was killed or injured in the accident in East Palestine, Ohio.  Mayor Trent Conaway told reporters that a mandatory evacuation order was imposed around the scene of the derailment in the town, comprised of 4,700 people and located about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick said the derailment happened around 9 p.m. Friday on a Norfolk Southern freight train traveling from Madison, Ill., to Conway, Pa. The train, he said, was carrying “multiple different quantities of products” and that several cars were still burning overnight. Video from the scene showed intense flames shooting from the derailed cars and thick smoke thousands of feet in the air over the accident scene, where frigid temperatures hindered the efforts of firefighters to contain the blaze. Officials state they know which type of products the train was carrying, however, Drabick declined to name the substances until it could be determined which cars were carrying what kind of cargo.

Columbiana County, Ohio, Emergency Management Agency Director Peggy Clark said that over 40 residents who reside near the scene were evacuated to a Red Cross shelter established in a city school.  According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Coordinator Josh Peters, the situation will remain monitored, but no contamination of air or water with hazardous chemicals had been detected in the area.

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