Former Boise Residents Are Charged With Planning Attacks on Power Grids

If the alleged plan had been carried out it could have been a disaster, but evidently, it was derailed before it got off the ground.  Four former Boise residents are accused of being involved in plans to attack power grids in Idaho and the Northwest, and they're linked to an extremist movement.

When I read the story Friday I was in disbelief.  Really?!  Does this scary scenario have actual ties to Boise?  Apparently, it does.

Four men with Boise ties are accused of being part of a neo-Nazi group that had planned to carry out attacks on energy grid infrastructure in Idaho and the Northwest.  Guns would have been involved, according to federal prosecutors.

The Idaho Statesman said Paul Kryscuk, 35, Liam Collins, 21, Jordan Duncan, 26, and Joseph Maurino, 22 are facing an indictment from the US Attorney's office, and they're all former Boise residents who are "already accused of illegally manufacturing and shipping firearms."

Prosecutors say the four men planned to use assault-style rifles to cause explosions at power substations in Idaho and nearby states.  They also studied "a previous attack on the power grid by an unknown group,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

There are accusations that the group planned to destroy power transformers using homemade thermite, which is a material that burns at over 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit,"  according to the Idaho Statesman's report.  Federal prosecutors believe that Collins, Kryscuk, and Duncan talked out a power grid between October 4th and 9th of last year, and the damaged could have exceeded $100,000.

They're innocent until proven guilty of course, and the cases will work their way through the courts.  While that happens, I'm going to be a little extra grateful for peace and quiet, and steady power supplies too.