Kanishka Singh, Sarah N. Lynch

(Reuters) – Three men pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring against U.S. electricity grids. This was part of a conspiracy motivated by white supremacy in order to cause civil unrest, and economic distress.

Christopher Cook (age 20) of Columbus Ohio and Jonathan Frost (age 24), of Katy Texas and West Lafayette Indiana, respectively, as well Jackson Sawall (NYSE:), Wisconsin, each pleaded guilty in one count of conspiring for material support to extremists. Court documents from the U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio revealed that they had been charged with the same offense.

It comes as Justice Department officials are pointing to increased domestic threats from anti-government militias and white supremacists.

A new domestic terror unit was formed by the Department of Homeland Security in January. This follows a rising realization that terrorists within the country pose a similar threat to foreign militant groups, such as Islamic State.

For the offense, which was not reported to us immediately, they face a maximum 15-year sentence in prison.

According to the prosecution, Frost and Cook devised their plans online in the autumn of 2019. Frost concocted the idea of attacking the power grid. The prosecutors claim that the pair began to seek out others who would join their conspiracy within weeks. Sawall joined later.

The plan was to target substations (or power grids) with powerful rifles. They believed that it would result in unrest for the government and cost them millions of dollars.

According to a department statement, “They discussed how the possibility that the power would be out for many more months could cause war”

According to prosecutors, they began planning for a meeting in Columbus in Ohio in February 2020. Frost was accused of providing Cook and Sawall with suicide necklaces laced with Fentanyl that they could consume if they were arrested by law enforcement.

The pair are also accused of putting a swastika banner under a park bridge.

Their plan to execute their mission in Ohio got derailed by a traffic stop. Sawall attempted to take his suicide pill. He survived.

However, Cook and Frost continued to travel to Texas, where they tried to recruit young people to their cause.