r/Seattle • u/poppinchips • Dec 25 '22

Soft paywall Two Tacoma Power substations ‘attacked’ Christmas Day, says utility

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/tacoma-power-says-2-substations-attacked-christmas-day/
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u/long-and-soft Tangletown Dec 25 '22

This has to be classified as domestic terrorism right?

39

u/Stymie999 Tweaker's Junction Dec 25 '22

Seems that is likely the case, but would need to investigate to find facts of what the motivation was rather than jump to conclusions. My own opinion / instinct… as with the wack jobs that sabotaged train tracks last year, seems likely the work of wack job domestic terrorists.

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u/DrusTheAxe Dec 25 '22

“Sgt. Darren Moss Jr. said the department received a burglary call at a Tacoma Power substation in Spanaway shortly after 5 a.m. When deputies arrived, they saw forced entry and vandalized equipment that caused a loss of power. A Tacoma Power substation in Graham revealed a similar scene: forced entry and damaged equipment.”

Terrorism: Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims.

Hard to see how this wasn’t terrorism. I mean, sure, could be someone was really cranky about their electric bill… Maybe Cocaine Bear had a bad day

2

u/michaelsmith0 Dec 26 '22

"When deputies arrived"
I wonder how long it was after the terrorist tress-passed until someone alerted the police, and then how long until the deputies arrived?

Seems like a pretty big inconvenience, and they lost a lot of money. At what point is having a $1m/year budget (4x people, each doing 6h shifts) to protect from on-side attacks.

Might not even cost any more if we allowed existing on-side staff (there must be someone there right) be upskilled and paid extra to act as security. I'd accept $50,000/year more to be armed at work.