So, besides invading Ukraine, Russia has unleashed its cadre of criminals to wreak havoc using cyber techniques.

Government websites disappear.  Citizens can’t access their banks over the web.  And, at least a few power plants have been hit. (They’ve also used munitions to try to take down TV broadcasts!)

Here in America, the Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans haven’t attacked our electric grid in a big way.   Thankfully- not yet.

But, don’t feel too smug.  Because here we have our own crazies. (You know, like those “great patriots” that were “visiting” the US Congress like tourists on the 6^th of January, 2021.)

Yup.  Them’s the folks.

In this particular instance, Christopher Cook (Columbus, OH), Jonathan Frost (Katy, TX), and Jackson Sawall (Oshkosh, WI) got tired of harassing American citizens with their NeoNazi and White Supremacist ideology.  After meeting on the web, they decided to meet up in person in Columbus, to see what havoc they could bring.

Arming themselves with rifles, they practiced on shooting ranges.  Oh, and obtained “fentanyl necklaces” that they wore and would employ should they be captured.  That way they wouldn’t divulge any of their “secrets”. (You do know that fentanyl depresses the CNS [Central Nervous System] that can lead to subject death.)

And, they concocted a plan to attack the US power grids.  Each one would attack a different  substation on a different portion of the country.  And, they began recruiting similar minded (sic) folks to expand their plan.  Their intention was to cost the government millions of dollars and induce havoc among the citizenry whose power supply would be disrupted for months.  Oh- and they were certain this would lead to a race war in the USA.

Believe it or not, one of them was caught spray-painting a swastika under a bridge in Columbus. (“Join the Front” was the message).  Sawall, the captured one,  swallowed his suicide pill- but he survived the episode.  The crew then went down to Texas to seek out more recruits (mostly kids).

And, this is how they got caught.  Cook and Frost, while seeking out other useful idiots to effect their plot, were supposed to meet one such crazy in Oklahoma.  That person lost his phone.  And, the person who found the phone saw the Nazi propaganda and turned it into the cops.   That’s when Frost and Cook began destroying all their online history.

The FBI finally searched their residences (August 2020), finding slews of racially motivated, extremist Nazi paraphernalia- and weapons.  They also found explosives in Frost’s home.  (These were termed “consistent with someone attempting to test and assemble an explosive device”.)

The US Attorney (Southern District of Ohio) charged them with conspiring to use violence to sow hate, create chaos, and endanger the safety of the American people.   But, the trio have pled guilty to a sole count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.  While they may be subject to 15 years in prison, given the sentence provided the criminal elements involved in the 6 January insurrection, we can bet it will be much shorter.

And, our electric grid can survive yet another day.

Maybe we’ll start spending the money from that $ 1 trillion infrastructure bill real soon now to improve our roads, our electric grids, and our internet systems.

Share this: