Cameron Smith Mugshot
WASHINGTON D.C. (WSAU) – A Canadian man has been sentenced to prison time after conducting multiple domestic terrorist attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure.
According to the Post Millennial, Cameron Smith, 50, was ordered by US District Judge Daniel Traynor to pay $2.1 million in restitution and $250,000 in fines, as well as serve two consecutive 12-year-and-6-month sentences for attacking the pipeline by firing multiple rounds from a high-power rifle into the equipment in South Dakota in 2022 and North Dakota in 2023, resulting in nearly 300 customers losing power at their homes and businesses.
Smith’s attorney argued that his actions were done due to his client being a “hyper-aware individual wanting to raise awareness about climate change” and chose the locations due to there not being high population areas nearby. The defense also pushed back against the long sentences due to Smith allegedly suffering from Crohn’s disease and autism, arguing he “wouldn’t survive” two decades behind bars. The prosecution argued that terrorism charges were warranted due to Smith’s actions fitting the legal description of “attempting to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.”
However, Judge Traynor refused to accept the defense’s claim and sided with the prosecution, saying, “You ignored the rule of law in the United States and carried out your actions in a terrorist manner. You did not engage in this conduct on a whim. You committed two separate attacks on critical infrastructure 10 months apart and traveled a great distance to do so.”
President Donald Trump’s first term in office saw the resuscitation of the 1,200-mile Keystone XL pipeline, which had been blocked during the Obama administration. But it was terminated again by President Joe Biden when he took office in 2021. It was anticipated that 830,000 barrels of Alberta oil sands crude would be transported to the U.S. daily via the pipeline.
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