Electric energy strains are displayed at sundown in El Segundo, Calif., on Aug. 31, 2022. The FBI charged two males over assaults on Washington state’s energy grid that left hundreds with out energy.

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP by way of Getty Images

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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP by way of Getty Images

Electric energy strains are displayed at sundown in El Segundo, Calif., on Aug. 31, 2022. The FBI charged two males over assaults on Washington state’s energy grid that left hundreds with out energy.

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP by way of Getty Images

Two males have been charged with federal crimes for attacking substations in Washington State, an act of sabotage that left hundreds with out energy on Christmas Day.

Federal brokers say one of many males confessed to knocking out the facility with a purpose to commit a housebreaking by emptying the money register of an area enterprise in the course of the energy outage.

The FBI says cellular phone information led to the arrest of Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, each residents of Puyallup, Wash. According to paperwork unsealed Tuesday, each males have been charged with conspiracy to wreck vitality services, and Greenwood has additionally been charged with possession of an unregistered firearm.

The sabotage got here after a string of different assaults on energy infrastructure throughout the U.S., together with one that caused a major outage in North Carolina.

The Department of Homeland Security has beforehand warned that energy infrastructure is an “attractive” goal for home terrorists; nonetheless, the charging paperwork for Greenwood and Crahan do not point out any political motivations.

“We have seen attacks such as these increase in Western Washington and throughout the country and must treat each incident seriously,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown stated in an announcement. “The outages on Christmas left thousands in the dark and cold and put some who need power for medical devices at extreme risk.”

A public defender assigned to Matthew Greenwood declined to remark, whereas the lawyer appointed to defend Jeremy Crahan says he expects to enter a not responsible plea.