FBI Arrests Five in Alleged Plot to Blow Up Brecksville Bridge
The defendants will appear in court today.
The FBI has arrested five people who are accused of conspiring to use explosives on a bridge in Brecksville in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
The FBI said in a press release the public was not in danger, and an undercover FBI employee had controlled the explosive devices. In addition, the explosives were inoperable.
The arrests were made Monday night by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, an FBI press release said.
Arrested were: Douglas L. Wright, 26, Brandon L. Baxter, 20, and Anthony Hayne, 35. The three are being charged with conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce.
Connor C. Stevens, 20, and Joshua S. Stafford, 23, also were arrested. Charges are pending.
The men had been monitored by local law enforcement before the arrests. A criminal complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in Cleveland this morning. The men will appear before a federal magistrate in U.S. District court today.
The defendants considered a variety of plots in the Cleveland area before settling on the state Route 82 bridge from Brecksville to Sagamore Hills in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the release said. For more details on the five locations they targeted, see The Plain Dealer's coverage.
The three who are charged with conspiracy are self-proclaimed anarchists.
More coverage on Patch:
Men Arrested in Bridge Bombing Plot Have Ties to Lakewood, Occupy Cleveland
Man Suspected in Bridge Bomb Plot Former Avon Lake Resident
Brecksville Bridge Bomb Suspects Coverage Locally and Nationally
DB Cooper
1:15 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Looks like from the pictures these 5 d-bags couldn't change a light bulb let alone blow up a bridge. I bet they are gonna love prison though, it will be tougher to get the meth they all looked hooked on.
Jim
1:40 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Indeed, DB, it does appear that these young men have the look of those who spend their days and nights slaving over a hot stove, cooking up some delicious meth.
tom m
1:41 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
occupy cleveland supporters (dont even bother trying to deny they are yours)
lyn
2:41 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
tom m. is right on that!
See: Men Arrested in Bridge Bombing Plot Have Ties to Lakewood, Occupy Cleveland
Leigh Peterson
1:52 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Why would they want to blow up what could have made for a lovely home for them?
tom m
3:30 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
leigh now that is funny
Brian
4:22 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Your new neighbors??
Jack Kelly
2:07 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Aww...all 5 of them are going to be missed in their trailer park tonight.
Margie
2:51 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Thank You FBI :) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steve
3:40 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Did the three from Lakewood also own PitBulls? Why not?
bill budner
3:55 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
dummy ^^^
Brian
4:21 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Steve, are you going from Patch site to Patch site posting the same stupid comment?
Steve
5:09 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Stupid is as Stupid does. You seem to be all over the boards too, does that count?
tom m
5:12 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
its Brian the occupy cleveland supporter .........so brian your membership shrunk a bit today huh
John McMillan
8:41 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
I was going to post a reprimand to the incredibly snide (and mostly anonymous) "tom m" for his own posting style, which seems to abandon all common courtesy, and guidelines set by the Patch...and how I find the tone of his posts to be rude and condascending. But, then I changed my mind. :)
Brian
8:48 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Tom just because you support the KKK and other hate organizations doesn't mean everyone does.
Evan Hammersmith
4:44 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Brian, if you haven't noticed, Steve's main hobby is to post public service announcements about the greatness of pitbulls on all stories linked on the Patch. In time, you'll find yourself disappointed if there's not a pitbull comment on virtually all stories you read on here.
Brian
8:35 am on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Steve, if he wants to defend having Pitbulls he's is free to do that. When he begins to spew negativity about something he has no proof I will question him as well.
You see, this isn't about whether or not I agree or even like Occupy Cleveland, in fact, I find it annoying but they have a right to assemble and protest whatever they want. The problem I have is most of you posting on here have ZERO proof that the group condones violence, but you get on here and continue to spread lies.
I believe these 5 men and any others who try and blow up bridges or put citzens in danger should be tried in a court of law and sent away for a very long time. I don't even know anyone associated with Occupy Cleveland. These 5 obviously don't give Occupy Cleveland a good name and if there association with the group is more than just attendees than the FBI should look at this group. The problem when people assemble to protest is that your going to get people who have their own agenda and these 5 fall into that category.
Steve
5:06 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Just keeping it front and center, at least it makes sense. I won't disappoint you.After all, these are the kind of people that Lakewood targets. Oh wait, they had nothing to do with the apprehension. They only LIVED here.
Jack Kelly
5:48 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Is there anyway to have all of these stories merged into one along the "Patch" network, and just update it accordingly? Granted I know some involve Brecksville (because of the bridge), Lakewood, etc, but it appears there are several different stories across different cities.
Kaye Spector
5:56 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Hi Jack, thanks for your question. All the stories have most of the same information, but we may recast a story for a particular community so that readers there can get the most local information first.
Tom Horwitz
8:16 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Why haven't they been sent to Gitmo? Is it because they don't face Mecca 5 times a day?