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Brandon Russell

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Brandon Russell
Leader of the Atomwaffen Division
In office
2013–2017
Succeeded byJohn Cameron Denton[1]
Personal details
Born (1995-07-01) July 1, 1995 (age 29)
Florida, United States
CitizenshipBahamas, United States[2]
Alma materUniversity of South Florida[3]
OccupationEx-Florida National Guardsman
Neo-Nazi leader

Brandon Clint Russell (born July 1, 1995) is a Bahamian and American Neo-Nazi leader, terrorist and the founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division in 2013.[4]

In September 2017, Russell pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing an unregistered destructive device and illegally storing explosives; in January 2018, he was sentenced to five years in prison, but released from prison in August 2021. In February 2023 he was indicted for planning attacks on electric substations in Baltimore.

Early life and education

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Brandon Clint Russell was born on July 1, 1995, in Florida.[4] He is a dual citizen of both the U.S. and The Bahamas.[2] He studied nuclear physics at the University of South Florida as an undergraduate and became a Florida Army National Guardsman.[5]

Career

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Russell, who went by the handle "Odin", first appeared on the right wing Iron March webforum on March 22, 2014, at age 18.[6] Iron March was a far-right[7] neo-fascist[7] and neo-Nazi[7] web forum.[8] The site opened in 2011 and attracted neo-fascist and neo-Nazi members, including militants from organized far-right groups and members who would later go on to commit acts of terror.[7]

Russell would create contacts with American and international neo-Nazis and in an October 2015 post on Iron March, he announced the formation of Atomwaffen Division, which had been three years in the making. He stated that Atomwaffen was for very fanatical, ideological people who do military training, absolutely "no keyboard warriors". Dozens responded to the thread, which stated they had 40 members across the U.S., mostly in Florida.[9]

In addition to creating the organization in the United States, he would visit Atomwaffen's ideological comrades, National Action, in the United Kingdom.[10] Russell also went to meet with the leaderships of Golden Dawn, Nordic Resistance Movement, Russian Imperial Movement and CasaPound in a neo-Nazi event in the Russian Federation in 2015.[11]

Tampa murders and first arrest

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In May 2017, Russell's friend and roommate Devon Arthurs was accused of killing two of his roommates and fellow Atomwaffen Division members with an assault rifle. Arthurs was arrested following a hostage situation in Tampa, during which he allegedly told police that he shot 22-year-old Jeremy Himmelman and 18-year-old Andrew Oneschuk earlier that day to prevent further violence.[12] On the night of Devon Arthurs' arrest, then 21-year-old Russell was also arrested and questioned by local police and the FBI. While it was determined that Russell was not involved in the homicides, the deaths drew investigators' attention to a large stash of explosives in Russell's garage; they found explosive precursors ammonium nitrate, nitromethane, homemade detonators,[13][14] and an explosive compound, hexamethylene triperoxide diamine. HMTD has been used to make improvised explosive devices by groups such as al-Qaeda, and ammonium nitrate and nitromethane were used by Timothy McVeigh, the perpetrator of the Oklahoma City bombing. The authorities also found thorium and americium, two radioactive substances, in Russell's bedroom. Russell had a framed photograph of Timothy McVeigh in his bedroom.[5][15][16] The authorities also discovered guns, various Atomwaffen paraphernalia and neo-Nazi propaganda.[17] Yet Russell was released.[5]

The FBI issued an arrest warrant for Russell on explosives charges and the FBI bulletin warned he might be planning a terrorist attack. Russell was arrested again with another member in Monroe County, Florida. The car they were driving contained assault rifles, body armor and more than 1000 rounds of ammunition which they had acquired after the shooting. Russell claimed the explosives were used to power model rockets, but according to an FBI bomb technician the explosives were powerful enough to destroy an airliner.[18][5] The prosecutors alleged Russell "planned to use the explosives to harm civilians, nuclear facilities and synagogues."[19]

In September 2017, Russell pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing an unregistered destructive device and illegally storing explosives; in January 2018, he was sentenced to five years in prison for those crimes.[17] While in jail awaiting sentencing, he sent bomb-making instructions to his followers.[20] While less than six months into his five-year sentence he issued a statement recorded inside United States Penitentiary in Atlanta. Russell thanked his comrades for their "undying loyalty and courage," and issued a warning: "There is no room in this world for cowardly people... The sword has been drawn. There is no turning back."[20] On a separate occasion Russell also stated "I don't care how long you put me in jail, your Honor … as soon as I get out, I will go right back to fight for my White Race and my America!'"[21] He was released from prison on August 23, 2021.[22]

Baltimore attack plot

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In February 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Russell for allegedly conspiring with Sarah Clendaniel, a woman from Maryland he met in prison,[23][24][25] on planning attacks on electric substations in the Baltimore area. Russell allegedly shared open-source maps of infrastructure and pointed out substations he said would cause a "cascading failure" if they were taken out.[26][27] A magistrate judge in Florida ordered Russell held pending trial.[28]

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Karin Slaughter's book The Last Widow features Brandon Russell as a neo-Nazi leader.[29]

References

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  1. ^ "Atomwaffen Division/National Socialist Order". Center for International Security and Cooperation. July 3, 2022. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022. Following Russell's arrest and imprisonment, he was replaced as leader of AWD by John Cameron Denton
  2. ^ a b "Neo-Nazi leader gets 5 years for having lethal bomb-making materials". CBS News. July 3, 2022. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "Atomwaffen Division". Southern Poverty Law Center. April 29, 2024. Russell, a former student at the University of South Florida (USF), was an active member of the Army National Guard who told officers the explosives came from his time in USF's engineering school
  4. ^ a b Turnquest, Ava (July 3, 2022). "Bahamian Neo-Nazi jailed for five years in explosives case". The Tribune. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Thompson, A.C. (November 20, 2018). "An Atomwaffen Member Sketched a Map to Take the Neo-Nazis Down. What Path Officials Took Is a Mystery". propublica. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  6. ^ Hayden, Michael Edison (February 15, 2019). "Visions of Chaos: Weighing the Violent Legacy of Iron March". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d Upchurch, H. E. (December 22, 2021). Cruickshank, Paul; Hummel, Kristina (eds.). "The Iron March Forum and the Evolution of the "Skull Mask" Neo-Fascist Network" (PDF). CTC Sentinel. 14 (10). West Point, New York: Combating Terrorism Center: 27–37. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  8. ^ Poulter, James (March 12, 2018). "The Obscure Neo-Nazi Forum Linked to a Wave of Terror". Vice. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  9. ^ Reitman, Janet (May 2, 2018). "All-American Nazis: Inside the Rise of Fascist Youth in the U.S." Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  10. ^ McDevitt, Johnny (March 3, 2018). "New Hitler youth is enemy at the gates". The Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  11. ^ "Washington's Defunct Atomwaffen Division had Deep Ties to the Terrorist Org, Russia Imperialist Movement". Malcontent News. August 6, 2022. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022. In 2015 while in St. Petersburg, [Russell] met with Taylor of American Renaissance and the leaders of the Nordic Resistance Movement of Sweden, the National Action group of Germany, CasPound of Italy, and Golden Dawn of Greece.
  12. ^ Matthias, Christopher (May 26, 2017). "The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend: What Neo-Nazis Like About ISIS". HuffPost. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  13. ^ "Neo-Nazi group founder pleads guilty to explosives charges". Times of Israel. September 27, 2017. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  14. ^ "Atomwaffen Division". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on December 2, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  15. ^ Goodhue, David (May 22, 2017). "FBI busts 'Atomwaffen' Neo-Nazi in Florida for making explosives — and finds radiation materials". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  16. ^ Altman, Howard (May 23, 2017). "How did Florida National Guard miss soldier's neo-Nazi leanings?". TBO. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  17. ^ a b Chokshi, Niraj (January 10, 2018). "Neo-Nazi Leader in Florida Sentenced to 5 Years Over Homemade Explosives". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  18. ^ Thompson, A.C. (July 8, 2019). "Documenting Hate: New American Nazis". Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  19. ^ "Donning the Mask: Presenting 'The Face of 21st Century Fascism'". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 20, 2017. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  20. ^ a b "How Did a Convicted Neo-Nazi Release Propaganda From Prison?". Rolling Stone. July 3, 2022.
  21. ^ "Founder of neo-Nazi group gets prison time for possession of bomb materials". The Guardian. May 21, 2023. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  22. ^ "INTEL BRIEF: Atomwaffen founder gets out of prison". Intel Brief. July 26, 2022. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  23. ^ Czachor, Emily Mae (February 6, 2023). "2 suspects arrested for conspiring to attack Baltimore power grid, officials say". CBS News. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  24. ^ Kosnar, Michael; Li, David K. (February 6, 2023). "Neo-Nazi leader among 2 arrested in plot to attack Baltimore's power grid, feds say". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  25. ^ Fiallo, Josh (February 6, 2023). "Neo-Nazi Bonnie & Clyde Arrested for Plot to Wipe Out Baltimore's Power Grid". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  26. ^ Sneed, Tierney (February 6, 2023). "Justice Department charges two people with conspiracy to destroy energy facilities | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  27. ^ Fenton, Justin (February 6, 2023). "Woman plotted to destroy energy substations with neo-Nazi leader, FBI says". the-baltimore-banner. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  28. ^ "United States vs Brandon Clint Russell" (PDF). United States District Court. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  29. ^ The Last Widow. Karin Slaughter. p.275
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