Day: February 24, 2022
Three Men Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to a Plot to Attack Power Grids in the United States
hree men pleaded guilty today to crimes related to a scheme to attack power grids in the United States in furtherance of white supremacist ideology.
According to court documents, Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio; Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of West Lafayette, Indiana, and of Katy, Texas; and Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. The charge and plea agreements indicate that the defendants knew and intended that the material support they conspired to provide would be used to prepare for and carry out the federal offense of destroying energy facilities.
“These three defendants admitted to engaging in a disturbing plot, in furtherance of white supremacist ideology, to attack energy facilities in order to damage the economy and stoke division in our country,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “The Justice Department is committed to investigating and disrupting such terrorist plots and holding perpetrators accountable for their crimes.”
“These defendants conspired to use violence to sow hate, create chaos, and endanger the safety of the American people,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio. “As this case shows, federal and state law enforcement agencies are dedicated to working together to protect this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
“The defendants in this case wanted to attack regional power substations and expected the damage would lead to economic distress and civil unrest,” said Assistant Director Timothy Langan of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “These individuals wanted to carry out such a plot because of their adherence to racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist views. When individuals move from espousing particular views to planning or committing acts of violence the FBI will investigate and take action to stop their plans. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect our communities.”
“Those inspired to commit terrorist acts in the name of hate pose a serious threat to our nation,” said Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers of the FBI’s Cincinnati Field Office. “I am thankful for the Joint Terrorism Task Force and our law enforcement partners who work each day to prevent this type of violence from occurring in our communities.”
According to court documents, in fall 2019, Frost and Cook met in an online chat group. Frost shared the idea of attacking a power grid with Cook, and within weeks, the two began efforts to recruit others to join in their plan.
As part of the recruitment process, Cook circulated a book list of readings that promoted the ideology of white supremacy and Neo-Nazism. By late 2019, Sawall – a friend of Cook’s – joined the conspiracy and assisted Cook with online recruitment efforts, operational security and organization.
As part of the conspiracy, each defendant was assigned a substation in a different region of the United States. The plan was to attack the substations, or power grids, with powerful rifles. The defendants believed their plan would cost the government millions of dollars and cause unrest for Americans in the region. They had conversations about how the possibility of the power being out for many months could cause war, even a race war, and induce the next Great Depression.
In February 2020, the co-conspirators met in Columbus, Ohio, to further discuss their plot. Frost provided Cook with an AR-47 and the two took the rifle to a shooting range to train.
Frost also provided Cook and Sawall with suicide necklaces during the Columbus meeting. The necklaces were filled with fentanyl and were to be ingested if and when the defendants were caught by law enforcement. Both Cook and Sawall expressed their commitment to dying in furtherance of their mission.
Upon arriving in Columbus, Sawall and Cook purchased spray paint and painted a swastika flag under a bridge at a park with the caption, “Join the Front.” The defendants had additional propaganda plans for their time in Ohio, but they were derailed during a traffic stop, during which Sawall swallowed his suicide pill but ultimately survived.
Court documents detail that Cook and Frost continued to travel together after their Ohio meeting, and drove to Texas in March 2020. Cook stayed in different cities with various juveniles who he was attempting to recruit for their plot.
Cook, Frost and Sawall were each charged with providing material support to terrorism by a bill of information filed on Feb. 7. The defendants face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica W. Knight for the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Justin Sher of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting this case.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Columbus, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Houston. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Eastern District of Wisconsin and Northern District of Indiana provided valuable support.
Student files human rights complaint against Ontario Tech University
The Justice Centre represents Philip Anisimov, who attends Ontario Tech University in a four-year Mechanical Engineering Program. Mr. Anisimov has been denied completion of his last semester due to a mandatory vaccine policy which violates his religious beliefs. The Justice Centre has filed an Application with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal for a hearing on discrimination due to religious beliefs.
Mr. Anisimov was scheduled to complete his final semester and begin his career in April of this year. Despite most of his classes operating online for the fall semester, the University has refused to provide any accommodation to Mr. Anisimov.
Ontario has confirmed it is scrapping the Covid vaccine passport system on March 1. The Covid vaccines do not prevent infection or transmission.
Mr. Anisimov objects to receiving Covid shots on religious grounds. He objects to the use of aborted fetal cell lines in the testing and development of the vaccines, and insists that accepting these shots would violate his conscience and his religious duty. Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, the University has a duty to accommodate religious differences up to a point of undue hardship.
On August 30, 2021, Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Health Officer of Ontario, provided all post-secondary education institutions in the province with instructions requiring them to offer students three choices as part of their Covid-19 vaccine plans, any of which would facilitate their access to campus:
- Show proof of double vax; or,
- Show medical exemption which the University must approve; or,
- Offer a Covid-19 vaccine education session on the safety and benefits of the vaccine – if students choose this option they must frequently test.
Ontario Tech University does not offer an education session and/or testing option to its students.
On October 5, 2021, the University denied Mr. Anisimov’s request for accommodation. Despite the fact that Mr. Anisimov is not Catholic, the University relied on the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto’s statement on the vaccine to justify their decision. The University argued that “major faith leaders” in Canada support vaccination. They also asked for proof that Mr. Anisimov had not received other vaccines during elementary or secondary school.
On November 2, 2021, the Justice Centre wrote a letter on behalf of Mr. Anisimov warning the University that a failure to accommodate could result in legal action. The University agreed to accommodate Mr. Anisimov for the remainder of the Fall term but refused to extend that accommodation to the Winter term, which would be his final semester. Mr. Anisimov was not provided with any alternatives to allow him to finish his program on time and within budget.
Mr. Anisimov enrolled in his courses for the Winter term with the hope that the situation would improve and he would be allowed to complete his degree. He was motivated by his “Capstone” course which is a full-year course where students work in a group under the supervision of a professor to research, develop, build, and present a prototype. Mr. Anisimov had already invested the time and effort in the fall semester. He also felt an obligation to his student group to try and continue in the course.
On February 2, 2022, the Justice Centre made a request to the University on behalf of Mr. Anisimov that he not be de-registered from the Capstone course. Mr. Anisimov is willing to comply with any health measures or guidelines. He is even willing to agree not to attend campus and to accept a grade of zero on the course’s in-person components if only he would be allowed to complete the course. Despite Mr. Anisimov’s willingness to work with the University to find an agreeable arrangement, his request was denied.
“The University has tried to characterize Mr. Anisimov’s belief as a personal preference by arguing that vaccination is not truly contrary to his faith,” states Hatim Kheir, Justice Centre Staff Lawyer. “Decision-makers are not permitted to engage in speculation and theological debates about which dogma is correct. So long as a belief is religious in nature and sincerely held, it must be accommodated,” says Mr. Kheir.
Mr. Anisimov’s plans have been completely derailed by the University’s decision. “I should have been looking for work right now, but I can’t do that,” states Mr. Anisimov. In the face of the University’s decision to de-register him from his courses, Mr. Anisimov said he has started looking at Universities in the United States which will come at a greater cost. “Regardless of what path I take, I lose a lot of time and money,” he concludes.
Mr. Anisimov’s application is currently before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal for acceptance of his complaint.
WATCH: Planned Parenthood Caught Trying to Cover Up Botched Abortion That Tears Hole in Woman’s Uterus
When a woman suffered a life-threatening medical emergency at the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Aurora, Illinois, last December, the caller did something that had the potential of adding risk to an already life-or-death emergency.
The Planned Parenthood caller asked that the ambulance respond with no sirens. This is known to delay ambulance response times and is unconscionable in this case when the woman was in dire need of emergency hospital care.
Requests for no sirens usually indicates that the abortion facility does not want to draw attention to the fact that they just botched an abortion.
It was December 18, 2021, when the ambulance rolled up to the Aurora Planned Parenthood, responding to call for help for a woman suffering a suspected uterine perforation during a risky second trimester abortion.
Operation Rescue was provided a copy of the 911 recording and Incident Report by the ProLife Action League.
Canada Man's Sandbox 