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GuardianSock t1_j30p197 wrote

The only possible way it’s true is if they were so incredibly stupid that they just kept knocking out substations and then going to the place they wanted to rob, saw the power was still on, shrugged, and went to knock out another one. Like their entire plan was just to knock out substations one by one until it got the one place they were going after.

But to be fair, they brought their cellphones to every substation they attacked, so they are incredibly stupid.

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NovaBlazer t1_j329lz7 wrote

The bigger issue is that our power infrastructure is so incredibly weak and unprotected that two morons with a dumb idea can knock it offline on a whim in 5 minutes flat.

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AdventureBum t1_j333d1c wrote

That’s what makes me suspect this was a trial run for something bigger. That and the fact that these two have been on an FBI watchlist for some time.

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darlantan t1_j33sbeg wrote

> That’s what makes me suspect this was a trial run for something bigger.

Could be that it was a trial run, could be that it was a pair of idiots who got the idea from the news. Hell, it could be both: A couple of idiots given the idea by someone who wanted disposable mooks to do a trial run for them.

Either way, it's shown a lot of folks that it isn't hard to do, and you can bet that the ones you are most worried about are among them.

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Jive_Papa t1_j349s4b wrote

Probably less of a trial run and more of a proof of concept to other right wing extremists looking to imitate it. I don't think it will lead to some larger attack, but it could definitely lead to more of the same.

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whitepawn23 t1_j31nec9 wrote

You’re right, it’s dumb, but that doesn’t mean dumb shits didn’t try it. A dude showed up at a pizza place, armed, looking for a nonexistent basement full of trafficked kids, for starters.

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cornylifedetermined t1_j31cx2u wrote

Also, who keeps cash in the register overnight?

I think they wanted to rob a gun store.

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loquacious t1_j332j2a wrote

A lot of small businesses keep the float in the till overnight, because there's usually not more than like $100 in there, and there's more valuable things to steal in the store. I know a lot of bars do because they have like 5 to 10 thousand dollars worth of liquor right there and the float in the till is the least of their worries.

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Crackertron t1_j34keb1 wrote

Yep I used to work retail and we'd keep $200 float in each till.

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AdventureBum t1_j33384i wrote

That still wouldn’t explain why the robbery happened before the last power station was hit.

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nikdahl t1_j34gvmc wrote

Exactly. They did three substations, the robbery, then another substation.

Why the last substation?

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iamlucky13 t1_j33b549 wrote

> The only possible way it’s true is if they were so incredibly stupid

It's pretty unlikely they knew which substation they needed to hit to take out power where that store is. After all, do you know which substation feeds your area? It might even have genuinely required multiple due to the fact that power companies try to set up their grids so that areas have multiple lines feeding a given area.

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GuardianSock t1_j33fogc wrote

I’m no criminal mastermind but if my heist master plan relied on cutting the power to a specific location I’d probably do the research ahead of time to ensure I didn’t have to hit numerous locations (which is exactly how they were caught), probably just not rely on hitting substations in general for exactly this reason (seems far easier to hit the power to the location more directly), and definitely not commit a significantly more serious crime just to enable my intended crime.

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iamlucky13 t1_j34enaw wrote

That's because you ARE a mastermind in comparison to these guys.

You should see the guns they were caught with. A few news articles have carried photos of them. The idea that the modifications they did in any way improved them is almost beyond belief.

In fact, the modifications they did specifically made them guilty of federal firearms crimes, for no benefit to themselves at all, so they're already poster boys for the very last point in your post.

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