FBI breaks up ‘anarchist plot to attack Cleveland bridge’

The five suspects, aged between 20 to 35, were home-grown extremists and not
tied to any foreign terror group, officials said. The plot had no link to
the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden.

They allegedly plotted to use C-4 explosives to destroy the four-lane
Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge that crosses over a national park,
according to court papers.

The group had initially considered other targets across Cleveland, including
using smoke grenades to distract police before blowing up signs off of bank
buildings and striking a command centre used by federal, state and local
authorities.

According to court papers, the gang was led by Douglas Wright, 26, a
long-standing anarchist who claimed to have lost teeth and broken his nose
during previous street fights with police.

Wright apparently railed against other anti-capitalist demonstrators, accusing
them of working with “corporate America and law enforcement” and looked to
establish a more militant splinter group, recruited partly from homeless
shelters.

Using the Anarchist Cookbook – a well-known internet manual with “recipes” for
bomb making – Wright allegedly spent months devising a way to attack the
bridge.

He allegedly agreed to pay $900 for eight bricks of explosives as well as
bullet-proof vests, cans of tear gas and Israeli-made gas masks in
preparation for the attack.

Wright and his alleged accomplices – Brandon Baxter, 20; Anthony Hayne, 35;
Connor Stevens, 20; and Joshua Stafford, 23 – are expected in federal court
later today.

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