Three men pleaded guilty on Wednesday of plotting to attack various power grids in the U.S.
The men believed their actions would lead to economic and civil unrest, and would bring white leaders to power.
Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio; Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of West Lafayette, Ind., and of Katy, Texas; and Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, of Oshkosh, Wis., each pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Columbus on Wednesday to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
They will face up to 15 years in prison, sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
The three met in an online chat room and began sharing white supremacist and Neo-Nazi material, began recruiting others, and eventually met in person in Columbus, Ohio, to further their plot. As part of their plot, each man focused on substations in different regions of the country, and how to attack the power grids with rifles, according to court documents.
They believed that by knocking out power for an extended period of time they would create the next Great Depression and cause people to not trust the system, creating a revolution and opportunity for white leaders to rise up.
You can read the press release from the Department of Justice here.
