Two Washington State men were arrested in connection with Christmas Day attacks on four power substations in the Tacoma area, federal authorities said Tuesday. Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan were charged with conspiracy to damage energy facilities and possession of unregistered firearms, reports Reuters. The two men were known to authorities and had been under FBI surveillance for more than a month in late 2021 and early 2022, FBI agent Mark Tucher said in an affidavit in federal court. The agent did not give reasons for that surveillance, but Tucher described himself as an expert in domestic terrorism assigned to the FBI Seattle joint terrorism task force.
Investigators believe that the men cut fencing leading to four power stations in Pierce County, Wa., operated by Puget Sound Energy and Tacoma Power. They then tampered with the equipment, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses, the affidavit alleged. Greenwood and Crahan were arrested on Saturday. The Washington state power grid attacks came on the heels of similar incidents in other states. In December, a utility in North Carolina reported outages from what local authorities said were orchestrated shootings now being investigated by federal law enforcement.