The leaders of the plot to bomb an Ohio highway bridge are members of the "Occupy" movement, but you won't find that information in much of the mainstream media coverage of the story.
The FBI arrested five people in a federal sting operation in which FBI agents provided inoperable explosives to suspects allegedly intending to bomb a bridge about 15 miles south of Cleveland. The suspects, Douglas Wright, 26, Brandon Baxter, 20, and Anthony Hayne, 35, are described as self-proclaimed anarchists in a Justice Department statement. All three are connected to the Occupy Cleveland group.
The men were arrested Monday on charges of conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials. Charges are pending against Connor Stevens, 20, and Joshua Stafford, 23, who were also arrested, the department said. The men are scheduled to appear today in federal court in Cleveland.
Baxter, Hayne and Wright all appear to have connections to Occupy Cleveland and the overall Occupy movement --a movement marked by extensive violence and criminality, yet embraced by Democrats and liberal leaders such as Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama. That may explain why the liberal media is downplaying or ignoring the Occupy connection - it might embarrass Obama.
USA Today? No mention at all.
Bloomberg? No mention at all.
CBS News? No mention at all.
Voice of America? No mention at all.
The New York Times? No mention at all.
CNN? The cable network notes that the language used by one of the suspects in reference to "the 1 percent" sounds like Occupy terminology, but CNN fails to mention that some of the suspects were actually involved with Occupy Cleveland.
The Associated Press? It mentions the Occupy connection but downplays it, letting an Occupy Cleveland spokesman's claim the men "weren't affiliated with or representing the group" go unchallenged.
The local media, on the other hand -- specifically the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, is reporting the Occupy connection to the terrorist plot.
Breitbart.com's Dan Riehl has more on the connection between the Occupy movement and the Ohio bridge-bombing plot.
Given the national press's obsessive attempts to track down even imaginary racism or extremism allegations within the Tea Party movement, it's pretty clear that had Tea Partiers decided to blow up a bridge, you can be sure that even the apolitical would know about it.
