New Jersey Man Charged with Soliciting Destruction of Energy Facilities

Andrew Takhistov, 18, of East Brunswick, New Jersey, was arrested yesterday and made his initial appearance in court today for allegedly soliciting another individual to destroy energy facilities.

“Andrew Takhistov was allegedly on his way to Ukraine to join the Russian Volunteer Corps when we arrested him on charges of recruiting an individual to destroy an electrical substation here in the United States in order to advance his white supremacist ideology,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “I am grateful to the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force for their exceptional work disrupting this dangerous plot.”

“This complaint alleges that the defendant’s posts referenced Adolf Hitler, encouraged violence against Black and Jewish communities, praised mass shooters, and discussed causing death and destruction on a large scale,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “The defendant was allegedly enroute to join the Russian Volunteer Corps, which he described as specializing in assassinations, attacks on power grids, and other infrastructure sabotage, so that he could act on his violent plans. We will not tolerate these kinds of alleged terroristic threats, and working with our partners, we will always be ready to root out and bring to justice anyone who attempts to carry out these acts.”

Read more: Department of Justice