WKYC 3 Cleveland is reporting that five men have been arrested in for plotting to blow up the Brecksville Bridge a long with various sites in Chicago. Here’s more from WKYC:

The FBI says five people have been arrested in a plot to blow up the Route 82 bridge over the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

According to a written release, Douglas L. Wright, 26,  Brandon L. Baxter, 20, and Anthony Hayne, 35, were arrested by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force on April 30 on charges of conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce.

Similar charges against two other men, Connor C. Stevens, 20, and Joshua S. Stafford, 23,  were filed this morning. 

The FBI says the five are all self-proclaimed anarchists.

The five were under close police surveillance.  The FBI says the group purchased two inoperable improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from an undercover agent.  The FBI stresses the devices were inert.

According to the FBI, the group allegedly placed the devices on a concrete pillar of the bridge on Monday night and armed them.  The FBI says the five then attempted to remotely detonate the devices from an area they deemed safe and which would give them an alibi.  They were arrested shortly afterward as part of the sting.

Attention Congressional Democrats, President Obama, and the rest of you reading this, please make a note: Anarchists were attempting these attacks, not conservatives, Tea Party members, or House Republicans.

In fact, Brandon Baxter heads Occupy Cleveland. Anarchists within the Occupy Movement? Who knew?

Douglas L. Wright, 26; Brandon L. Baxter, 20; and Anthony Hayne, 37, were arrested Monday night by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, on charges of conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce.

• READ THE CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

Also arrested were Connor C. Stevens, 20, and Joshua S. Stafford, 23, CBS News reported.

[worldnow id=7108724 width=385 height=288 type=video]

The FBI says over a period of several months, the self-described anarchists discussed various targets for acts of terror around the Cleveland area. They selected the Route 82 Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge as their target.

But a criminal complaint suggests at least one of the suspects also had his eye on staging or participating in some kind of attack or disruptive action in Chicago. The men had purchased inert improvised explosive devices, protective gear and smoke grenades previously, and Wright indicated that the group planned to come to Chicago after they destroyed the bridge in Cleveland.

“(A)s the surveillance and site planning ended, conversation turned to events after the bridge bombing. Wright stated that Chicago is the main place they were worried about having the protective gear because there is no telling what they might have to use there,” the complaint said.

[worldnow id=7113045 width=385 height=288 type=video]

Wright said it would be “crazy” in Cleveland after the group blew up the bridge, but “crazier in Chicago with people coming from everywhere to Chicago to protest the NATO summit. Wright also “predicted a ‘s**t load’ of people going to Chicago to protest the summit would first come to Cleveland, presumably drawn by the destruction of the bridge.

He predicted that anarchists ultimately headed to Chicago would riot in Cleveland for a week, “then everyone will leave and downtown Cleveland will ‘be a pile of rubble and ashes,’ as anarchists in every major city in the country will ultimately be ‘rioting and destroying each city,’” the criminal complaint said.

The complaint does not indicate any acts the suspects were planning in Chicago, and FBI Special Agent Ross Rice said there was no evidence developed of a credible threat to the city, or the NATO summit coming up on May 20.

The investigation in Cleveland remains ongoing. The FBI says the public was never in danger in the Cleveland area, since the explosives the men possessed were in operable.

“FBI: 5 men arrested, wanted to blow up Ohio bridge

By THOMAS J. SHEERAN
Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — Five men, at least three of them anarchists, plotted to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, but there was no danger to the public because the explosives were inoperable and were controlled by an undercover FBI employee, the agency said Tuesday in announcing the men’s arrests.

The target of the plot was a bridge that carries a four-lane highway over part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in the Brecksville area, about 15 miles south of downtown Cleveland, the FBI said.

Authorities said three of the men were arrested Monday and are self-described anarchists, not tied to international terrorism.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the men had attorneys. All of the suspects, ranging in age from 20 to 35, were expected to appear in federal court Tuesday afternoon.

The FBI said three were arrested on charges of conspiracy and trying to use explosives to damage property affecting interstate commerce. They were identified as Brandon L. Baxter, 20; Douglas L. Wright, 26; and Anthony Hayne, 35. Their hometowns were not provided.

Charges were pending against the other two men.

Baxter, Wright and Hayne considered different plots over several months, including distracting law enforcement with smoke grenades while trying to bring down financial institution signs in downtown Cleveland, federal authorities alleged. The defendants’ finally settled on blowing up the bridge, authorities said.

“The individuals charged in this plot were intent on using violence to express their ideological views,” Special Agent Stephen D. Anthony, who oversees the FBI’s Cleveland division, said in a statement. “The Joint Terrorism Task Force will continue to be vigilant in its efforts to detect and disrupt any terrorism threat, domestic or international.”"

————————————————————–

Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates, P.C.’s
Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos:

Federal Crimes – Be Careful

Federal Crimes – Be Proactive

Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment

Federal Crimes – Detention Hearing

————————————————————–

To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Criminal Defense Daily.

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.