Lights out: An update from the front
Roughly 35,000 homes are still without power in Moore County, North Carolina after domestic terrorists (let’s be clear) opened fire on and damaged two electrical substations Saturday evening. A state of emergency was declared. A curfew was in effect Sunday night. Schools in Moore County are closed today. Power may not be fully restored until Thursday.
The FBI is involved in the investigation. The agency thwarted a similar attack two years ago.
Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement, saying, “An attack like this on critical infrastructure is a serious, intentional crime and I expect state and federal authorities to thoroughly investigate and bring those responsible to justice. Moore County has strong, vibrant communities and the state will continue to provide transportation and public safety assistance.”
CNN:
The mass outage in Moore County turned into a criminal investigation when responding utility crews found signs of potential vandalism of equipment at different sites – including two substations that had been damaged by gunfire, according to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office.
“The person, or persons, who did this knew exactly what they were doing,” Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said during a Sunday news conference. “We don’t have a clue why Moore County.”
Fields said multiple rounds were fired at the two substations. “It was targeted, it wasn’t random,” he said.
The sheriff would not say whether the criminal activity was domestic terrorism but noted “no group has stepped up to acknowledge or accept they’re the ones who [did] it.”
Traffic lights are out. Stores with generators are open, but many other remain closed. Grocery store chain Harris Teeter is distributing bags of ice.
“It is cold,” said Chris Thompson of Carthage. “We have a six-month-old baby in the house. We are trying to get heat for her now. I don’t know.”
My cohort Barry Summers of Greensboro posted this December 2020 CBS report on a strikingly similar plot thwarted by the FBI:
The FBI is investigating a neo-Nazi group that is believed to have been planning an attack on the United States power grid. The plot was being called “Lights Out.” One of the targeted structures that is mentioned is outside of Colorado Springs. It’s called “Midway” and it is operated by Xcel.
The information is contained in a search warrant affidavit that was accidentally unsealed in federal court in Wisconsin. The warrant is to seek information on a cell phone number from the telephone company service provider.
The affidavit details an alleged plot naming three people who have not been charged so far in this case. It was reviewed by CBS4 investigator Rick Sallinger on Sunday, Dec. 13. The next day, the warrant was resealed and no longer open to public viewing. It says the plot is to disable power substations in the southeastern United States and in El Paso County Colorado.
The affidavit cites an informant as claiming the target date to carry out the attack was to be for 2024, but sooner if Donald Trump was to lose the 2020 election.
A Wisconsin report from on that FBI leak from 2020:
In November 2019, investigators said the 17-year-old shared plans with a group of as many as 10 people to attack the U.S. electric grid in an operation dubbed “Lights Out.”
“The plan was to knock out key power grids by strategically shooting rifle rounds into power sub-stations costing the government millions in recovery spending,” the informant told investigators, according to the records.
The targets included Miami and Jacksonville, in Florida, and a substation in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Three people pleaded guilty in that case in February this year:
Three men, including one from Oshkosh, have been charged in Ohio with plotting to disrupt the nation’s power grid to advance their white supremacist ideology.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department announced all three men have agreed to plead guilty to charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. The case was charged earlier this month in the Southern District of Ohio.
“We don’t have a clue why Moore County,” said Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields. They probably said the same thing in El Paso County Colorado.
People involved in the Moore County attack will be spending a large fraction of their lives behind bars. Perhaps trading notes with fellow domestic terrorists.