Bridge bomb plot: Suspects were active in Occupy Cleveland, even as movement slowed to a crawl

View full sizeMarvin Fong, The Plain DealerOccupy Cleveland demonstrators march to the Justice Center in March to protest property foreclosures at a Cuyahoga County sheriff's sale.

CLEVELAND, Ohio --
Occupy Cleveland had Tuesday circled on the calendar.

After months of low visibility, leaders of the protest organization formed during last fall's anti-Wall Street movement hoped to recapture the public's attention with a peaceful weekend festival leading up to a May Day demonstration.

By noon, they were back in the spotlight -- but not for the reasons they intended.

Five men involved in Occupy Cleveland stand accused of plotting to blow up a bridge over Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Sagamore Hills. The organization itself has not been implicated, but the arrests prompted organizers to cancel their May Day protest and instead spend the day distancing themselves from what they characterized as a fringe element.

"While the group arrested Monday evening by the FBI [was] associated with Occupy Cleveland, they were in no way representing or acting on behalf of Occupy Cleveland or the event that was planned for later today," the organization said in an email. "Occupy Cleveland has affirmed principles of nonviolence since its inception on Oct. 6, 2011."

Brandon Baxter, Anthony Hayne, Joshua Stafford, Connor Stevens and Douglas Wright are "self-described anarchists," federal officials said Tuesday. And according to a half-dozen Occupy Cleveland leaders and supporters interviewed by The Plain Dealer, they found a home under the organization's tent on downtown's Public Square.

Their mingling with peaceniks and others on the political left who express frustration with government in softer tones is emblematic of the wide array of people attracted to the Occupy movement. With such inclusiveness came conflict.

"There was tension from the get-go in terms of the strategy," said Cleveland City Councilman Brian Cummins, a Green Party member and Occupy supporter who has helped the local organization secure its required city permits.

Occupy Cleveland leaders said most of their members have embraced the organization's "nonviolent training" programs. But Cummins recalled Baxter, Hayne, Stafford and Wright as members of a small but vocal faction that "found little use for peaceful demonstration." They participated in public events, but ultimately weren't a core part, he said.

"Frankly," Cummins added, "I think they disdained the leadership."

The councilman was not the only one who downplayed the suspects' influence within the Occupy orbit.

"They're like an offshoot, and they're not part of this -- especially now that we know what they were up to," said Robin Adelmann, who has held the organization's Public Square tent permit for the last five months.

Participation dwindled over the winter and activity slowed to a crawl.

"Lately it's been very nonexistent," Adelmann said. "The public is a bit bored with us."

In an effort to keep interest alive, the organization in January began holding biweekly meetings at a downtown church. Cummins said attendance started out strong -- 30 to 50 people -- but tapered off in the subsequent months.

Influential or not, the anarchists remained engaged. Baxter was among five protesters arrested in March after interrupting a Cuyahoga County sheriff's sale. The group urged a moratorium on property foreclosures.

Baxter also helped organize last weekend's Heart Fest, the event Occupy Cleveland leaders hoped would help re-energize the movement as warmer weather approached. Baxter created the Facebook page for the festival, which promised "family fun with the community" and ran Saturday through Monday at the Free Stamp near Cleveland City Hall.

"There was discussion of adding a big weekend-long -- if not longer -- gathering in Cleveland to reintroduce the community to Occupy," said Greg Coleridge, a supporter who volunteered to lead a Saturday session that stressed cooperation instead of competition. "Heart Fest was meant to coincide with the resurgence of Occupy."

Rainy weather on Saturday and Monday affected attendance, raising hopes for Tuesday's May Day demonstration at an old General Electric Lighting building on East 45th Street in Cleveland. Occupy protesters were scheduled to join with those from other organizations, including Cleveland Jobs with Justice and labor groups, to bash GE executives.

"Today's Occupy GE event was canceled because there were rumors these guys were involved," said Debbie Kline of Jobs with Justice. "They were never at the table.

"We'll do this again," she added. "But it would have been in bad taste to do today."