BALTIMORE — As the founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group goes on trial for conspiring to attack Maryland’s power grid, his abhorrent beliefs aren’t really the point, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

They said it is his willingness to act on those beliefs that jurors must consider during the trial, which is expected to last about two weeks in Baltimore federal court.

Brandon Russell, 29, encouraged his then-girlfriend, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, to carry out the power grid attack, hoping to cause chaos in furtherance of their shared White supremacist views, according to prosecutors.

The two were arrested in February 2023 — before their plans were executed.

“Mr. Russell was at war. He was at war for his race, the white race,” prosecutor Michael Aubin said during opening arguments Tuesday afternoon.

According to prosecutors, the pair was planning a series of “sniper attacks” on electrical substations around Baltimore that could have caused significant damage.

— The Associated Press