Five charged with plot to bomb Ohio bridge

CLEVELAND - Five men described by federal authorities as anarchists angry with corporate America and the government were charged Tuesday with plotting to bomb an Ohio bridge linking two wealthy Cleveland suburbs.

The men were arrested Monday night after unknowingly working with an FBI informant for months, a strategy that federal investigators have used repeatedly in recent years to nab alleged terrorists.

"They talked about making a statement against corporate America and the government as some of the motivations for their actions," U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said in announcing the arrests with the head of the FBI in Cleveland, Stephen Anthony.

The alleged plotters researched explosives and obtained what they thought was C-4 explosives. The material, in fact, was harmless and the public was never at risk, because the men got the explosives from the informant, officials said.

The men planted the fake explosives at the base of the bridge, armed them, went to a remote spot and "entered the codes that they thought would blow up the bridge with innocent people traveling over it," Dettelbach said.

The men were charged with conspiracy and trying to bomb property used in interstate commerce. All five appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court, where Magistrate Judge Greg White ordered them jailed without bond pending a hearing Monday.

The suspects were identified as Joshua S. Stafford, 23, and Anthony Hayne, 35, both of Cleveland; Brandon L. Baxter, 20, of nearby Lakewood; Connor Stevens, 20, of suburban Berea; and Douglas L. Wright, 26; of Indianapolis. The charges carry possible penalties of more than 20 years in prison.

At the hearing, the men, with wrist manacles chained to the waist, sat in the jury box with their attorneys and acknowledged receiving copies of the complaint against them and an understanding of their rights.

At the end of the hearing, Stevens' father, James, shouted, "Love you, Connor!" The father left court without commenting.

The target of the plot was a bridge that carries a state highway over part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and a picturesque scenic rail line and canal towpath in the Brecksville area, about 15 miles south of downtown Cleveland.

The men had been associated with the anticorporate Occupy Cleveland movement but don't share its nonviolent views, organizer Debbie Kline said.

"They were in no way representing or acting on behalf of Occupy Cleveland," Kline said in an e-mail canceling the group's May Day protest at a GE Lighting plant in view of the arrests of the "autonomous group" of five.

The alleged plotters were frustrated that other anticorporate protesters opposed violence, according to Dettelbach, citing the criminal complaint filed in the case.

"It talks about the anger and frustration that these five individuals felt that other people would not support their violent aims," Dettelbach said.