Substation attacks in Oregon and Washington are ‘similar to North Carolina’
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The feds say substation vandalism in Oregon and Washington is similar to the gun attack in North Carolina that left tens of thousands without power.
- Vandalism has involved hand tools, arson, firearms, and metal chains.
- The motive is ‘causing widespread power outages’ and ‘social disruption’
- Homeland Security has warned of an increased threat from domestic terrorism
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Substations in Washington and Oregon have reported attacks similar to the one last weekend in North Carolina, which involved armed individuals and left tens of thousands without power amid freezing temperatures, and left one person dead.
A federal memo obtained by news nationIt warned: ‘Power plants in Oregon and Washington have reported physical attacks on substations using hand tools, arson, firearms and metal chains, possibly in response to an online call for attacks on critical infrastructure.’
The goal of the attackers, he said, was “to cause widespread power outages with the potential impact of social disruption and violent criminal activity against the government.”
The memo added: “In recent attacks, criminal actors circumvented security fences by cutting fence links, lighting nearby fires, shooting equipment from a distance, or throwing objects over the fence and onto the equipment.”
It is not clear how many facilities in both states were attacked, whether the premises lost power, whether there was a political motive for the attacks and whether anyone was arrested.
A Duke Energy employee works to repair damage at the Moore County substation
Police have yet to identify a motive for the weekend attack in Moore County, North Carolina, though investigators were exploring the possibility that the shooting was an attempt to disrupt a drag performance scheduled for Sunday.
Republican Senator Tom Mcinnis said: “It appears to be an intentional, deliberate and malicious act and the perpetrator will be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
At its peak, the outages affected around 45,000 homes, causing residents to lose heat and schools to close. Duke Energy has now completed the repairs and restored power to all but a fraction of those who lost power.
One person is known to have died in his home, which had no electricity at the time, but the cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
There have been similar cases of substation vandalism across the country recently.
On November 11, 12,000 people in Jones County, North Carolina, lost power for days after a criminal attack. That investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made.
The Department of Homeland Security then issued an alert on November 30, warning of an increased threat from domestic terrorism.
It read: “Targets of potential violence include: public gatherings, religious institutions, the LGBTQI+ community, schools, racial and religious minorities, government facilities and personnel, critical US infrastructure, the media, and perceived ideological opponents “.
A worker inspects one of the three ‘bullet holes’ that paralyzed the North Carolina substation
And in February, three “white supremacists” pleaded guilty to planning rifle attacks on substations across the country.
“These three defendants admitted to participating in a disturbing plot, in support of white supremacist ideology, to attack energy facilities in order to harm the economy and fuel division in our country,” the attorney general said. Homeland Security Deputy Matthew G. Olsen.
It is not clear if they have been sentenced.