[Updated at 12:06 p.m. ET] Five men have been arrested on suspicion of trying to use what they thought were explosives to destroy a bridge near Cleveland, Ohio, the FBI said Tuesday morning.
Some of the men on Monday planted what they thought were two remotely activated C-4-based explosive devices – which they allegedly bought from an undercover FBI employee – at the base of a Route 82 bridge that crosses from Brecksville to Sagamore Hills over the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the FBI said in a news conference Tuesday.
The devices actually were inoperable and posed no threat to the public, and the FBI arrested the men shortly after the devices were planted, authorities said.
Douglas L. Wright, 26; Brandon L. Baxter, 20; and Anthony Hayne, 35, were arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force on Monday evening on charges of conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce, the FBI said.
Also arrested were Connor C. Stevens, 20; and Joshua S. Stafford, 23. Their charges were pending.
Three of the men are self-proclaimed anarchists, the FBI said in a news release.
"The public was never in danger from explosive devices," the FBI said.
The group initially planned to "topple financial institution signs atop high rise buildings in downtown Cleveland" while co-conspirators used smoke grenades to distract law enforcement, according to the FBI. But the plot evolved into plans for using explosive to destroy bridges or other targets, and the group finally decided on the Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge, which carries Route 82 over the national park, the FBI said.
Some of the defendants, after they planted the devices, intended to detonate them from a remote location that they believed was safe and could provide them with an alibi, authorities said at Tuesday's news conference.
The FBI learned of the plots through a confidential source who met Wright at a Cleveland-area protest event in November, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. district court. Wright told the source that Wright and a group of anarchists "had been discussing plans involving violence and destruction to physical property ... to send a message to corporations and the United States government," the complaint reads.
“The complaint in this case alleges that the defendants took specific and defined actions to further a terrorist plot,” U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach said in the news release. “The defendants stand charged based not upon any words or beliefs they might espouse, but based upon their own plans and actions.”
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Isn't this exactly the kind of home grown terrorism that conservatives lashed out at the Obama admin for warning us about? Not an al-Qaeda in the bunch. Seems that not everything the president says and does is wrong just because he says and does it.
Andrew brevik and now these guys.....hmm still no one crying christian terrorists..
"Christian terrorists?" Right. Get back to us when they turn out to be Gideons on a rampage. All blowin' up motel rooms with explodin' Bibles and sendin' notes to the police sayin' JOHN 3:16.
These are part of the OCCUPY MOVEMENT losers!
Should hang all of them from the same bridge they intended to blow up.
good work for the FBI in keeping us safe.these guys has issue and or tea party members,
.....Got meth?
Sorry, pal. Your stereotypes are getting in the way of the easily discernible truth. These are part of the "Occcupy" mob. Your crowd, no doubt.
white-trash terrorist, have to be conservative extremist, its time to disarm all of them anti social-ist fools.
In the words of the infamous dark night Sr. " this won't stand".
Did you read the article moron? They are anarchists. More like OWS losers than conservatives
You have your extremists mixed up. These guys are more like left wing "occupy" types.
I wonder if Janet Napolitano included the "Occupy" mob on the list of those potentially dangerous to America.
Remember? She included "Christians." I hope the leftists won't mind if I observe that these particular creatures don't look like Methodists to me.
Sounds like you are a racist and by the way anarchist align themselves with the left. Being white doesn't mean you are a conservative either.
I think you need to pull your head out Cando. To a man, each anarchist is a left-wing crusader. "Anarchism is often considered to be a radical left-wing ideology, and much of anarchist economics and anarchist legal philosophy reflect anti-statist interpretations of communism, collectivism, syndicalism or participatory economics." This attack was no doubt intended to coincide with today's Occupy Wallstreet protests that kick off all around the country.
Are you sure these Clampits were not just trying to home brew hooch under a bridge????
Sorry, Jed. This is part of the "Occupy" gang. Remember? The folks that Obama and Pelosi claimed as their very own.
The same movement that had "movements" on police vehicles. A key segment of the ever-so-charming left - the Zucotti Park darlings.
Racist are we?
Stupid, stupid, hateful people. Trash indeed.
True. Trash. Part of the 99% "Occupy" trash.
Best definition of white trash that could be formulated.
Yep.
The very creatures claimed as their very own by Obama and Pelosi.
Part of the "Occupy" mob. I'm pretty sure I saw all of them in the videos from Zucotti Park.
Another example of stupid people doing stupid things...
When has the "Occupy" mob not been engaged in stupidity?
These are the creatures that Obama and Pelosi gave their loving seal of approval to.
Remember in November.
Wow and we complain they may listen to a call. I have nothing to hide... throw the book and a noose at these clowns. Thank God the FBI intercepted their plan..
I don't complain as I have nothing to hide. Glad they did their job so well!!
isn't there a better way to take our country back from the global elite?
Nope.
Blowing up bridges and defecating on police vehicles. Oh, and also blocking ports so that working people with jobs unloading cargo are out of work.
The "Occupy" crowd. The darlings of the left.
White trash at it's best a bunch of losers
Right you are, Randy.
Or should I say "left?" Yes, this is the "Occupy" mob at its finest. I'm pretty sure I saw the guy on the far left defecating on a police vehicle.
This is the darling mob embraced by Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi - not to mention Susan Sarandon and Alec Baldwin. Remember when the latter two went down to Zucotti Park to give them all encouragement?