The second of two Washington men charged with attacking and damaging two Oregon electrical substations in November 2022 pleaded not guilty to the crime on Tuesday, July 16. Zachary Rosenthal faces three counts of damaging the energy facilities.
Authorities said that Rosenthal and Nathaniel Cheney, both from Washington state, vandalized two electrical substations in Oregon four days apart. Cheney pleaded not guilty to the charges he faced in April and is out of jail with certain conditions as he awaits his trial by jury in August.
At the substation with the most significant damage, authorities said that the two men cut the fence and opened fire on equipment, which caused around $100,000 in damage. The other station hit suffered an estimated $5,000 in damage.
If convicted of the charges the men face could up to 20 years in prison. Investigators said that the motive for the attack still remains unclear.
However, several other attacks at substations were also reported in Washington. Authorities said that vandals set fires and short-circuited electrical systems using firearms and chains.
Additionally, in 2022, two power substations in North Carolina were damaged by gunfire and tens of thousands of customers were left without power.
That same year, the United States Department of Justice charged the suspected leader of a neo-Nazi group with conspiring to destroy an energy plant in Maryland.
Authorities said that they do not believe the crimes are connected, but a memo sent out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2022 did warn local law enforcement agencies of increased threats to “electrical infrastructure.”
In addition to the charges Rosenthal faces in regard to the alleged attack on the substations, he also received a second indictment on Tuesday related to charges of stealing 24 guns and possession of firearms as a convicted felon in 2023. Rosenthal pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
