A mohawk-wearing anarchist nicknamed "Cyco" was among five men arrested after allegedly conspiring to blow up a bridge about 15 miles south of Cleveland, the FBI said Tuesday.
Douglas L. Wright, 26, joined alleged co-conspirators Brandon L. Baxter, 20, a.k.a. "Skabby," and Anthony Hayne, 35, a.k.a. "Tony" and "Billy," in a plot that authorities say honed in on the Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge, which spans the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and carries a four-lane highway.
The men were arrested Monday evening in an FBI sting, but posed no real danger to the public because the explosives were inert and were controlled by an undercover FBI agent, the bureau said in a statement….
"Clearly this was a sting operation," said Fran Townsend, a CNN National Security contributor, describing the use of at least one covert agent in the operation.
The story just broke, so we still don't know a lot of important information, such as whether the activists showed any inclinations toward violence before the FBI entered the picture and whether they would have had the capacity to do much damage without outside assistance. If past is prologue, the answer to the second question, at least, will be no.
But I guess we do know this much: The set of groups that the FBI considers a plausible terror threat currently includes "anarchists." You haven't made it as a revolutionary force unless you get your own stings.
