In the US port city of Tacoma, 14,000 households spend Christmas Day in the dark. The reason: sabotage. Unknowns paralyzed four substations. There have long been indications that extremist groups are planning attacks. But no arrests have been made yet.
After the attack on four substations in the US state of Washington, there are growing fears that these could have been attacks by right-wing extremist groups. Around 14,000 households in the port city of Tacoma, south of Seattle, were left without power as a result of the attack on Sunday. According to Tacoma Public Utilities, which operate two of the attacked facilities, federal police warned the company of a threat to the power grid in early December.
US government officials had warned in recent months that neo-Nazis could target power plants. Violent extremists had "been developing credible, concrete plans for attacks on the power grid since 2020 at the latest," several US media reported in January, citing confidential information from the Department of Homeland Security.
After the attacks in Tacoma, however, local police said it was unclear whether or not the attack was a coordinated effort. However, she has knowledge of similar events in Washington and other states. However, the incident must be investigated and no hasty conclusions should be drawn. Unknown persons had entered four different substations and damaged the systems.
In early December, North Carolina left 45,000 homes and businesses without power after two substations were damaged by a gun. In February, three men with ties to Ohio's neo-Nazi scene confessed to plans to use guns and explosives to damage power plants at various locations. Last year, five men were accused in North Carolina of planning attacks on power plants. They are said to have belonged to neo-Nazi groups.
