Two men have been sentenced for their involvement in a plot to attack the American electrical grid in support of white supremacy.
Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of West Lafayette, Ind., and Katy, Texas, and Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio, each entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiring to give material assistance to terrorists, according to an April 21 news release. Frost received a 60-month prison sentence, while Cook received a 92-month sentence.
“These defendants plotted armed attacks against energy facilities to stoke division in furtherance of white supremacist ideology, and now they are being held accountable," Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in the release. "The Justice Department will not tolerate the use of violence to advance any extremist ideology, and we remain determined to protect our communities from such hateful acts of terror.”
Court documents report Frost and Cook met online in a chat group in fall 2019, the release said. Frost shared the idea of attacking the power grid, and Cook agreed. They began recruitment efforts within weeks using a book list of readings that promoted white supremacy ideology and Neo-Nazism.
Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, of Oshkosh, Wis., was also charged with participating in the conspiracy and entered a guilty plea in February 2022. He will be sentenced at a later time, the release reported. He reportedly joined the effort in late 2019.
Each defendant was assigned a power grid substation in a different region to attack with high-powered rifles, the release said. The idea was that the attack would cost millions of dollars and force a power outage long enough to cause unrest, a race war or another Great Depression.
“At the root of every terrorist plot – whether foreign or domestic – is hate. As a society, we must be vigilant against online radicalization, which is a powerful tool used by extremists to recruit both juveniles and adults," U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio said.
“The defendants in this case conspired to provide material support to terrorism by putting plans in place to damage America’s infrastructure, motivated by their adherence to racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideology," Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division said. "When individuals move from espousing ideas to planning or committing acts of violence, the FBI will investigate and take action to disrupt their plans. Today’s sentencing demonstrates the commitment we have to working with our partners to bring violent extremists to justice and to protect our communities.”
