WEBVTT

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AMNA NAWAZ: Now let's focus on
increasing attacks by extremists

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and others to disrupt and
knock out the power grid.

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Direct attacks on electrical
substations, including vandalism
and other suspicious activity,

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were up by nearly 80 percent
in 2022 compared to the
previous year. Yesterday,

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authorities said they had
foiled an alleged neo-Nazi

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plot to attack multiple
substations and transformers
around Baltimore.

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William Brangham
has the details.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Amna, the
FBI said it had arrested two
suspects in this case last week,

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Sarah Beth Clendaniel
of Maryland and Brandon
Russell of Florida.

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Federal officials say Russell,
who was just released after
a five-year sentence on bomb

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charges, is a founder of a
neo-Nazi group known as the
Atomwaffen. This alleged plot

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in Baltimore follows recent
physical attacks on electrical
stations in North Carolina,

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Oregon and Washington
state, attacks that left
tens of thousands of

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people without power.
Motives in all those cases
haven't been determined.

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Brian Levin watches all
this at the Center for
the Study of Hate and

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Extremism at California
state University in San
Bernardino. And he joins us now.

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Brian Levin, thank you
so much for being here.

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Last year, the Department of
Homeland Security indicated that
racist extremist groups would

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be targeting infrastructure,
very much like this
alleged plot in Baltimore.

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Can you help us understand, why
would neo-Nazis want to attack a

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power station? How does
that further their goals?

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BRIAN LEVIN, Center for
the Study of Hate and
Extremism: A couple of things.

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First of all, historically
and culturally,

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infrastructure plots and
attacks and the glorification
of it with within

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various books throughout
the movement and prior
plots goes back decades.

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Some decades ago, I
testified before Congress
about something called
leaderless resistance. And,

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as the far right frequently
throughout history, and
especially today, has
become very fragmented

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and cellular, these kinds of
targeted attacks that can be
done by lone actors or small

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cells is very appealing, because
it gives them leverage with
respect to their small numbers.

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So, we have both a historic
sociocultural identification
of these locations as

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legitimate targets and
an overall racial holy
war or civil war or, as
accelerationists want to do,

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just burn down society.
These folks are looking
for some kind of chaos.

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And what they were hoping
is there would be some kind
of violent conflict around

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these attacks or, as in some
of these plots most recently,

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attacks that take place
around already emergency
situations, like snowstorms
or natural disasters.

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So what they hope to do as
part of the accelerationist
wing of neo-Nazism,

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but that actually goes across
the ideological spectrum, is
to cause chaos and continuing

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lack of confidence and -- in
institutions and infighting
amongst citizens. And they

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figure these kinds of targeted
attacks, assassinations,
and violence at rallies

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could combine to create that
critical mass of revolution
for white supremacy.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I see.

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This Baltimore plot, along
with these others that we
have seen in Washington

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state and North Carolina
and Oregon, seem to
indicate, though, that these

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power substations are themselves
particularly vulnerable. Is
that your understanding as well?

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BRIAN LEVIN: Well, I would
prefer not to go into
particular vulnerabilities
of specific locations.

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But let me just say this is,
we know that the protection of
various substations and related

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facilities is very uneven across
the country. And we really have
to raise the national standards,

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not only with respect
to physical attacks, but
also cyberattacks, which
may not only just come

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from white supremacists and
accelerationists, but others
who either are connected to a

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foreign entity or are
transnational in their white
supremacy, not necessarily
exclusively domestic.

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And, indeed, Atomwaffen and
some of these other groups have
international footprints. So,

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we have to look at not only the
physical infrastructure, but
also cyber, as an increasingly

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available set of malefactors
is available to want to hit
our critical infrastructure.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So,
given those vulnerabilities
that you're describing,
I mean, what would you

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be recommending that
governments and utilities be
doing to help harden these

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pieces of infrastructure?

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BRIAN LEVIN: I think they
have to look from within.
I think they have to go

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to the experts that are
working there and say, what
are our vulnerabilities?

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Even do some drills
where folks might try to
-- with proper vetting,

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try to show where these
vulnerabilities are. So, that's
one thing. The other thing is,

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increasingly, surveillance
systems are becoming much
more inexpensive. So we

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have to look at that as well.
And, again, don't forget
the cyber infrastructure.

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We know from the past
that, for instance, there
have been attempts to
breach, for instance,

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critical infrastructure here
in the United States, from
water systems, to hospitals,

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and other places where we rely
on them for our safety, but also
our routine daily activities.

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So, anything, frankly, that
would be a vulnerability

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for some kind of mass
chaos, I think communities
have to look at. And,

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of course, communication
systems, electrical
infrastructure,
health care systems,

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and others are places I
certainly would start, as
well as cyber infrastructure,
really important.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right,

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Brian Levin at the Center
for the Study of Hate and
Extremism, thank you so much.

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BRIAN LEVIN: Thank you.