3 men plead guilty in domestic terror plot targeting U.S. power grids
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three men could face up to 15 years in prison each after they pleaded guilty to charges in connection with a plan to attack U.S. power grids, authorities said.
In a Wednesday news release, the U.S. Department of Justice said Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Ohio; Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of Indiana; and Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, of Wisconsin, agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
The charges stem from discussions dating back to fall 2019, when Cook and Frost first met online, federal prosecutors said.
“Frost shared the idea of attacking a power grid with Cook, and within weeks, the two began efforts to recruit others to join in their plan,” the Justice Department said in the news release.
“As part of the recruitment process, Cook circulated a book list of readings that promoted the ideology of white supremacy and Neo-Nazism. By late 2019, Sawall – a friend of Cook’s – joined the conspiracy and assisted Cook with online recruitment efforts, operational security and organization.”
The trio agreed that each man would attack a different power substation in the country using powerful rifles, federal prosecutors said.
“The defendants believed their plan would cost the government millions of dollars and cause unrest for Americans in the region,” the Justice Department said. “They had conversations about how the possibility of the power being out for many months could cause war, even a race war, and induce the next Great Depression.”
When the men gathered in Columbus, Ohio, in February 2020, Frost gave Cook an AR-47 rifle, the release said. Frost also gave both Cook and Sawall fentanyl-filled “suicide necklaces” that “were to be in ingested if and when the defendants were caught by law enforcement,” according to the release. In addition, Sawall and Cook vandalized an area under a park bridge by spray-painting a swastika flag and the message, “Join the Front,” authorities said.
The men later encountered police, court documents said. Although Sawall took his “suicide pill,” he survived, according to the release.
Authorities said Cook and Frost kept traveling together and went to Texas a month later. FBI agents later searched the men’s homes and arrested them, WLWT reported. They were formally charged Feb. 7, the Justice Department said.
“These three defendants admitted to engaging in a disturbing plot, in furtherance of white supremacist ideology, to attack energy facilities in order to damage the economy and stoke division in our country,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen said in a statement. “The Justice Department is committed to investigating and disrupting such terrorist plots and holding perpetrators accountable for their crimes.”
According to The New York Times, Frost’s attorney, Samuel Shamansky, said his client “has completely disavowed the racist viewpoints previously embraced” and “accepted complete responsibility for his reprehensible conduct.” Attorneys for Cook and Sawall declined the Times’ request for a comment on the case.
