Three Men Sentenced for Power Station Attack Plot Linked to White Supremacy

Three men with connections to white supremacist groups, including two former U.S. Marines, were sentenced last week for their roles in a conspiracy to attack a power station in the northwestern United States. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the sentences on July 28, 2024, detailing how the men, identified as Paul James Kryscuk, 38, Liam Collins, 25, and Justin Wade Hermanson, 25, were involved in a racially motivated scheme aimed at disrupting the power grid. Prosecutors revealed that Kryscuk, a resident of Boise, Idaho, was discovered in October 2020 with a handwritten list of potential targets, including various locations in Idaho and neighboring states that housed critical components of the power grid. The investigation highlighted the men’s recruitment efforts through a neo-Nazi online forum, where they sought to expand their network and further their extremist agenda. Collins, from Johnston, Rhode Island, received the most severe sentence of 10 years for his involvement in the interstate transportation of unregistered firearms. Meanwhile, Hermanson, hailing from Swansboro, North Carolina, was sentenced to one year and nine months for conspiracy related to the manufacture and interstate shipment of firearms. The case underscores ongoing concerns about domestic terrorism and the threats posed by extremist groups in the United States, particularly those motivated by white supremacist ideologies.