The U.S. power grid is under attack—why are white nationalists cheering it on?

Electric systems in at least five states have been attacked in the last three months. A law enforcement source told the Daily Dot that that at least some of the attacks have been perpetuated by individuals or groups on the far-right, potentially in coordination with one another.

Regardless of who is behind it, white supremacists aren’t dismayed by the attacks on national infrastructure. Instead, they’re cheering it on. 

There is precedent for white supremacists targeting electrical systems. Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a report warning that domestic extremists “have developed credible, specific plans to attack electricity infrastructure since at least 2020.”

That year, three people who were allegedly part of an extremist militia and had ties to the far-right Boogaloo movement were charged with plotting to attack an electric substation. Also that year, a Telegram channel that hopes for the government to be overthrown released a 14-page document that reportedly featured a white supremacist guide on using low-tech attacks to cause chaos, including by attacking the power grid with guns.

In 2018, a cofounder of the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division was convicted of possessing explosive materials that authorities say he planned to use to blow up key infrastructure.

Threats to the power grid have increased significantly in recent years. On Nov. 30, DHS warned of heightened violent threats posed by foreign and domestic extremists against a variety of targets, including critical infrastructure. Manny Cancel, chief executive officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center, reportedly told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this month, “It’s the most complex threat landscape I’ve seen in my experience, and I’ve been in this industry for a long time.”

Targeting the electrical grid is a popular fixation among far-right groups, some of whom believe it would hasten a societal collapse they presume will eventually give way to a white supremacist society.

People with links to online extremists have taken credit for some of the recent attacks on electrical infrastructure. It’s not known whether there is any truth to such claims. Others in the same spaces are spreading various conspiracy theories, including the ever-popular claim that the federal government is behind the attacks.

The most serious recent assault on an electrical system occurred in North Carolina earlier this month. More than 45,000 homes and businesses were left without power for days after a series of attacks on electric substations that officials believe were coordinated. CNN reports that two of the substations were damaged by gunfire. Days later, there was gunfire at a hydroelectric power plant in South Carolina—though no damage was reported. The Seattle Times reports that at least five electric facilities have been attacked in Washington and Oregon in recent weeks; the attackers used firearms in at least some of the assaults. In another incident in a different part of North Carolina in early November, vandals knocked power out for several hours by damaging a substation’s transformers.

NewsNation reports that at least six electric substations in Florida experienced “intrusions” in September, two of which involved forced entry and manually tripping equipment, which caused temporary outages in both instances.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating these incidents. Thus far, no arrests have been made, nor has any potential motive been released.

It’s also unknown whether the attacks are related, or to what extent if they are. According to Oregon Live, the attacks in Oregon and Washington resemble the recent one in North Carolina.

In response to an accusation that white supremacists were behind the attacks on the electric grid in North Carolina earlier this month, a Twitter user with links to online racists replied, “Our patience has its limits.” Their tweet included a photo of a masked figure gesturing at an electric facility. 

That image traces back to a post from 2020 that reportedly appeared in a neo-Nazi Telegram channel popular with accelerationists, a term that refers to people who want to speed up the demise of the United States.

The Daily Dot found the same image in other online spaces, several of which included a lengthy caption about destroying “the many, and largely unprotected, power stations and cell towers.” The mask the figure wears in the image is reportedly from Siege by James Mason, a neo-Nazi tome that advocates for a white revolution achieved via acts of terrorism.

The bio of the Twitter account that posted the image recently said, “Read Siege” followed by the biohazard emoji.

The Twitter user deleted their account within hours of Miami Against Fascism posting a Twitter thread about attacks on electric infrastructure in Florida that included a screenshot of their tweet.

Earlier this month, an antisemitic Telegram channel implied that the incidents in North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington are related.

“Following the recent attacks on substations in North Carolina (see video), combatants on the west coast have followed suit,” they wrote. They also falsely said that the mainstream media isn’t reporting on the attack in North Carolina and suggested that more attacks will follow.

“I hope you've taken the time and resources over the last couple years to adapt to potential grid-down scenarios. I have heard that if as little as 10-20 substations across the United States go under, the entire grid is in jeopardy of collapse. It could come to your area too,” they added.

“US Federal agents are surely panicking to nip this in the bud as soon as they can. But with many types of unprotected infrastructure spread across the country, this will be a difficult task. This may be a very dark winter.”

While the channel isn’t claiming credit for the attacks, it is implying that there is a conspiracy by multiple groups or individuals to attempt to take down the nation’s electrical grid to bring about the so-called “dark winter.” This term pops up repeatedly in extremist spaces.

Dark winter generally refers to a societal collapse, which many white supremacists eagerly anticipate. The term has roots in a 2001 federal operation with the same name in which the government simulated a bio-terrorist attack utilizing smallpox. The operation predicted chaos would ensue and identified serious weaknesses in the nation’s ability to respond to such an attack.

The breakdown of society Operation Dark Winter foresaw is precisely the outcome that accelerationists desire.

In September, George Washington University published a research report on the last six years of violent extremists’ attacks and plots against critical infrastructure. The researchers found that nearly 20% of the attacks carried out or plotted by white supremacists were linked to the neo-Nazi accelerationist movement.

The report noted that Siege has a “profound influence on the mobilization trajectories and targeting decisions of today’s white supremacist terrorists.”

Others in channels popular with extremists and conspiracists have also mentioned a “dark winter” in reference to the recent attacks on electrical infrastructure.

Many people on the far-right clearly believe the attacks were carried out by like-minded extremists.

When a conspiratorial Telegram channel posted about a sealed warrant that authorities have obtained to investigate the sabotage of electric facilities in North Carolina earlier this month, one of their subscribers suggested they know who’s responsible.

“Why are we hiding who it is again???” the person wrote.

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