Four power transformers in the US may have been attacked by far-right groups

Damage to infrastructure in Pierce County, a southern suburb of Seattle, left more than 14,000 households without power on Christmas Day, local police say. He launched an investigation but was yet to nab a suspect. Local police said in a press release that they don’t know now if it was a coordinated attack or not.

Officials on Tuesday appealed to citizens and businesses near the damaged infrastructure. They are asked to view the images from their surveillance cameras. Police said they are aware of similar incidents in Washington state, Oregon and North Carolina.

In early December, federal law enforcement spoke of threats against the power grid of Tacoma Public Utilities, the owner of the two vandalized facilities. Militants from violent extremist groups “have developed credible and targeted plans to attack power infrastructure since 2020 or earlier,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a January report, US media reported.

In early December, 45,000 homes and businesses in Moore County, North Carolina were without power after two power transformers fired. A year ago, five people were indicted in the state for planning attacks on electricity infrastructure. All five may be members of racist and neo-Nazi discussion groups.

According to the indictment, they wanted to create “public confusion” to “establish a state centered on the white race.” In Ohio, three men from a neo-Nazi movement pleaded guilty in February to using guns and explosives to damage power plants.