As temperatures drop all across the country, multiple similar attacks against power substations have left thousands of Americans without power on both the East and West Coast.
According to CNN, such attacks first began in November, when unknown suspects broke into a substation in Moore County, North Carolina and vandalized the equipment, leaving over 40,000 residents without power as temperatures fell into the mid-40s, forcing the closure of schools and other businesses. Later the same month, two different Puget Sound Energy stations in Washington state were vandalized, affecting residents in both Washington state and Oregon.
As recently as Sunday, Christmas Day, another series of apparently coordinated attacks took place in Pierce County, Washington, near Tacoma, when three different substations were attacked. A fourth station was then burglarized and damaged so greatly that a fire was started. In total, the damage impacted 14,000 residents. Additional attacks have taken place in Puyallup and Graham, Washington.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement saying that it “is unknown if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems.” The FBI’s Seattle Division released its own statement on the matter, declaring that the bureau will “take threats against our infrastructure seriously, and urge anyone with information to contact law enforcement.”
On November 22nd, the FBI issued a bulletin warning of reports that there were threats to electricity grids and other crucial elements of American infrastructure by unidentified online extremists, allegedly seeking “to create civil disorder and inspire further violence.” The most likely culprits could be far-left activists who believe in global warming, and thus seek to damage power infrastructure in a statement against the mass use of energy by the population.