DC Trawler

An Occupy camp is a great incubator for domestic terrorism

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The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

One week in February, police were talking a suicidal Brandon Baxter off a bridge. The following week, federal authorities say he joined a plot to blow one up.

Baxter, 20, was one of five men arrested Monday night after FBI agents say the men tried to detonate what they thought were bombs planted at a bridge spanning the Cuyahoga River…

For now, little is known about Douglas Wright, 26, an Indiana man and self-proclaimed anarchist. But a federal affidavit portrays him as one of the architects of the foiled plan. The other four appear to have bonded around an Occupy Cleveland tent set up on Public Square this winter to protest corporate America.

Just because the Cleveland 5 are all Occupiers, spout Occupy rhetoric, and used an Occupy camp to plan their attempted bombing, that doesn’t mean Occupy has anything to do with it. How were the peace-loving, violence-abhoring Occupiers supposed to know that these solid citizens were plotting a bombing right in their midst? The Occupiers are completely blameless. Just like the Tea Parties would be blameless if they spawned something like this, right?

And you’ll never guess who the real victims are! Fox 8 in Cleveland reports:

Five self-proclaimed anarchists, accused of plotting to blow up a bridge, took part in protests for Occupy Cleveland, and leaders of the movement say they are already being punished for their connection to the suspects.

The men were arrested on Monday night, and on Wednesday morning, Cleveland city officials announced they were not renewing Occupy Cleveland’s permit for an encampment they established on Public Square in October.

Occupy spokesman Peter Schanz told Fox 8, “I think it’s a reactionary measure. We’ve been a non-violent protest since our inception on October 6; we’ve abided by Ghandian and Kingian non-violence principles…”

Schanz and other members of Occupy Cleveland said they had no knowledge of the bomb plot, and object to being painted with the same brush as the suspects.

Too bad, Occupiers. In a world where putting a crosshairs symbol on a map is blamed for violence, you don’t get to complain when you’re blamed for what goes on in your own camps. These guys are yours. Own it.

Read the whole Plain Dealer piece for more about these winners’ rap sheets. Suicide threats, felonious assault, inciting violence, vandalism, theft, trespassing, drug charges, fraud, receiving stolen property, harassment, breaking and entering… No wonder they fit right in with the rest of the Occupiers.

P.S. More Occupy-related violence in Arizona: Yesterday the late, unlamented J.T. Ready shot four people, including a 15-month-old girl, before shooting himself. I told you about Ready last October. Here he is at an Occupy Phoenix rally last year:

This was not national news because it wasn’t a Tea Party.

P.P.S. Brian Mendoza, the young man who hit a cop in the head with a snare drum at the May Day rally in LA, has been arrested. Give the drummer some (jail time).

P.P.P.S. More Occupy chaos and violence in San Francisco:

But of course, it was “mostly peaceful.” Well, except for the guy who got hit in the face with a brick hurled from a roof.

P.P.P.P.S. Not only is Brandon “Skabby” Baxter an Occupier, but Occupy Cleveland is so proud of his actions on their behalf that this video is still on their home page:

Baxter is the first guy being led out at the 1:30 mark, he’s holding the microphone for another guy at the 5:20 mark, and he’s the one yelling something unintelligible at the 6:03 mark.

Just two months ago, “Skabby” Baxter was an Occupy hero. Now his friends at Occupy Cleveland claim he has nothing to do with them, even though he’s still featured on their site. These guys are good.