Five men accused of conspiring to bomb a bridge near Cleveland to protest corporate America and the U.S. government faced a court hearing Tuesday, federal officials said.
Self-proclaimed anarchists Douglas Wright, 26, Brandon Baxter, 20 and Anthony Hayne, 35, developed the plot over several months before targeting a bridge over the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Monday night, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Cleveland.
Explosive devices provided to the suspects by an undercover FBI employee were inoperable to ensure there was no threat to the public, the complaint says.
Two of the men are accused of placing two devices at the base of a concrete support pillar for the bridge on Monday night. The FBI said the pair tried to remotely detonate the devices from a safe distance.
An FBI informant allegedly taped secret conversations with the suspects for months before the bombing effort, the complaint says.
Three of the suspects 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."
The group initially plotted to attack other sites around the city, including trying to knock large bank signs off the top of downtown Cleveland office buildings as well as attack a center where federal, state and local authorities coordinate operations and resources known as a fusion center, according to document.
The group had no ties to foreign terror organizations and the plot was not connected to the anniversary of the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a raid by U.S. forces a year ago, said a U.S. Justice Department official who declined to be further identified.
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