(Image Source: WKSU )

BY JIM FLINK

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY


Five men in Cleveland are busted by the FBI for plotting to blow up a bridge.  Fox News has the lowdown.

“Federal prosecutors filing charges on Tuesday against three self-proclaimed anarchists and at least two others for conspiring to use explosives.”

WKSU has all five suspects’ mug shots and posted this picture to its Twitter account. The men are all in their 20s or 30s.

The New York Times reports, they’d allegedly been plotting mischief since October of last year.

“The authorities said that the men had considered many landmarks in the Cleveland area in recent months and one of the initial plots for the group ‘involved the use of smoke grenades to distract law enforcement in order for the co-conspirators to topple financial institution signs atop high rise buildings in downtown Cleveland.’”

The FBI calls them — anarchists — not terrorists.
Feds say, that’s important because of an important anniversary — which The Daily Mail notes — is not connected.

“The group had no ties to foreign terrorist organizations and the plot was not connected to the anniversary of the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a raid by U.S. forces a year ago, a U.S. Justice Department official said ...”

MSNBC’s Pete Williams reports on when the FBI first learned of the terror plot, and how it infiltrated the organization.

“Back in October of last year, when there were some anarchists attending a protest event.  An FBI undercover agent then watched them.  

“And throughout these intervening months, the FBI has been closely monitoring them.”

And because of that, Feds say, the public was never at risk.
The Feds just waited for the men to carry out the actions — with fake explosives.