It Happened in Boulder City
Most Nevadans had no idea, but last Thursday morning, February 19th, a young man from New York drove nearly 2,000 miles to a small town 25 miles outside Las Vegas. Then, he tried to blow up a power substation.
Dawson Maloney, 23, rented a car in Albany, New York on February 12th and drove straight to Boulder City, Nevada. In the car with him: two shotguns, an AR-style pistol, loaded magazines, a crowbar, a hatchet — and two flamethrowers loaded with thermite, an incendiary material that burns extremely hot and is very hard to put out.
He crashed his silver Nissan Sentra through the security gate at a power substation and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police found him still in the driver’s seat.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill called it a “terrorism-related event.” The FBI agreed and launched a joint investigation.
He Told His Mother What He Was Going to Do
Before he left Albany, Maloney sent his family a disturbing message. In a message to his mother, the suspect referred to himself as a “dead terrorist son” and stated he felt he had an obligation to carry out his act.
His family reported him missing, but nobody could stop him in time.
Back at his hotel room, investigators found explosive materials and a stack of books on extremist ideologies — right- and left-wing extremism, environmental extremism, white supremacy and anti-government ideology. This wasn’t one flavor of radicalism. It was a toxic mix of all of them.
A search of his rental car also uncovered numerous loaded AR magazines and shotgun shells, two devices described as flamethrowers containing thermite material, a crowbar, a hatchet, and a cellphone currently undergoing forensic analysis.
Back in Albany, investigators executed two search warrants and found firearm components and a 3D printer.
Sheriff McMahill was direct, saying:
“These findings significantly elevate the seriousness of this incident.”
Why Boulder City? Because of What’s Next Door.
Boulder City isn’t a random target. It sits in the shadow of Hoover Dam, one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the American West. The dam provides water to millions of people and generates an average of 4 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power each year for Nevada, Arizona, and California.
The substation Maloney hit is directly connected to that system. The facility works closely with Hoover Dam and transfers power to the Los Angeles basin.
The good news is that Boulder City Police Chief Timothy Shea confirmed there is no evidence of major damage to critical infrastructure and no service disruptions.
This Has Happened Before
This wasn’t the first time someone targeted Nevada’s energy infrastructure. A similar incident occurred in 2023 when a man rammed a car through a fence at a solar power facility in the desert northeast of Las Vegas, setting it on fire. That facility served Las Vegas Strip casinos.
Nationally, the threat is growing. Extremist chatter around targeting critical infrastructure notably increased in 2020, the same year a 14-page guide circulated among extremist channels detailing low-tech attacks on power grids using firearms.
Intelligence agencies have described the electric grid as an “attractive target” for bad actors.
The Conservative Case for Acting Now
Some will use this story to push for expanded surveillance or new gun laws. That’s the wrong response. But doing nothing is also wrong.
Protecting power substations, water systems, and dams is one of the legitimate, core duties of government. Limited government doesn’t mean defenseless government. It means a government that focuses on what it’s actually supposed to do: like keeping the lights on and the water flowing.
The FBI and LVMPD are working this together, yet still Nevada’s state and local leaders need to ask hard questions.
- Are our substations fenced well enough?
- Are security protocols up to date?
- What does it cost to harden these facilities?
- And what does it risk if we don’t?
The threat isn’t theoretical anymore. It showed up in Boulder City last week.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
