WASHINGTON – US authorities arrested five self-described anarchists in the Cleveland area for allegedly plotting to blow up a four-lane highway bridge over a national park, but had no ties to foreign terrorism, the US justice department said yesterday.
The group, ranging in ages from 20 to 37, were arrested overnight by the FBI after planting the explosives on the bridge and they were all charged with conspiracy and attempting to use explosive materials. The FBI said the five arrested, identified as Douglas Wright, Brandon Baxter, Anthony Hayne, Connor Stevens and Joshua Stafford, were under continuous watch as part of an undercover operation and therefore the public was never in danger.
The explosives, supplied by an undercover FBI agent, were inert.
“I want to stress . . . at no time during this investigation was the public in danger,” FBI agent Stephen Anthony said. The bridge is about 15 miles south of Cleveland in an area popular with hikers and joggers.
The group initially came under scrutiny by authorities on October 21st, 2011, when the FBI learned that some self-described anarchists planned to attend a protest in Cleveland, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed yesterday. An FBI informant saw four of the men going through the crowd expressing displeasure at demonstrators’ unwillingness to engage in violent acts. protest.
“These were self-described anarchists who formed their own group,” said one US law official. – (Reuters)