Arrested Cleveland bridge bomb plot suspect tells FBI informant he is from Bloomington

Five self-proclaimed anarchists were arrested and accused Tuesday of conspiring to blow up a bridge near Cleveland to send a message of dissatisfaction to corporate America and the United States government. One of the men told a confidential informant with the Federal Bureau of Investigation that he was from the Bloomington area.

Members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Douglas L. Wright, 26, Monday evening, according to an FBI press release. During a conversation with a confidential informant at a Cleveland protest Oct. 11, 2011, Wright introduced himself as Doug from the Bloomington area and said he has been an anarchist for 12 years.

Also arrested with Wright were Brandon L. Baxter, 20, Anthony Hayne, 35, Connor C. Stevens, 20, and Joshua S. Stafford, 23. Wright, Baxter and Hayne were arrested on charges of conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce. Charges against Stevens and Stafford are still pending.

For months, the accused men unknowingly worked with an undercover FBI informant, a strategy federal investigators use frequently to corner alleged terrorists.

Their initial plot involved using smoke grenades to distract law enforcement in order for the co-conspirators to topple financial institution signs atop high-rise buildings in downtown Cleveland, according to the release.

But the plot later developed to utilize explosive materials. The defendants conspired to obtain C-4 explosives contained in two improvised explosive devices to be placed and remotely detonated.

In April, Wright allegedly agreed to purchase eight bricks of C-4 explosives, vests, tear gas and masks from an undercover FBI agent.

The alleged conspirators eventually chose their designated target as the Route 82 Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge, which crosses from Brecksville, Ohio, to Sagamore Hills, Ohio, over Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

“The complaint in this case alleges that the defendants took specific and defined actions to further a terrorist plot,” U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said in a press release. “The defendants stand charged based not upon any words or beliefs they might espouse, but based upon their own plans and actions.”

The public was never in danger from the explosive devices sold to Wright, according to the release. The explosives the defendants allegedly purchased and attempted to use were inoperable.

On Tuesday, the five men appeared in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. The men will remain in jail without bond until a Monday hearing.

During his 12 years as an anarchist, Wright, who goes by the alias “Cyco,” told the informant he has broken his nose and has missing teeth from past riots.

During the October protest, Wright allegedly told the informant that if he goes to jail this time, he “probably won’t get out for awhile.”

Wright also allegedly told the informant he wanted to purchase a retractable baton, but he was not interested in purchasing a gun because he has a prior felony conviction and did not want to risk arrest for illegal firearm possession.

Despite his claim of a past felony conviction, court records for Douglas L. Wright do not exist in Indiana.

Detective Sergeant John Kovach of the Bloomington Police Department said BPD does not have any records on Wright that would confirm his residency in the Bloomington area, unless he used an alias.