Feds: 5 Anarchists Plotted to Bomb Ohio Bridge

FBI had an undercover agent watching them
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 1, 2012 10:51 AM CDT
Feds: 5 Anarchists Plotted to Bomb Ohio Bridge
The Interstate-90 bridge is shown during rush hour in Cleveland in this file photo. This is not the bridge the plotters intended to blow up; they were targeting the Route-82 bridge.   (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested five men yesterday for their role in an alleged plot to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, officials revealed today. This isn't a case of international terrorism; at least three of the men are home-grown, self-proclaimed "anarchists," officials said, according to Fox News. "The individuals charged in this plot were intent on using violence to express their ideological views," the FBI's Cleveland chief said in a statement.

The public was never in any danger; an undercover FBI agent had been monitoring the group for some time, and had provided the "explosives," which were actually inert, MSNBC reports. Originally the men, who range in age from 20 to 35, had planned only to knock over finance-related signs atop high rise buildings, using smoke grenades to distract police, but over several months allegedly came around to the idea of blowing up the Brecksville-Northfield bridge instead. (More FBI stories.)

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