[Ppnews] 'Evolved’ activist or provocateur?

Fri Jan 9 10:18:34 EST 2009

StarTribune.com

'Evolved’ activist or provocateur?

By JAMES WALSH, Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/37313649.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUMEaPc:E7_ec7PaP3iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

January 9, 2009

At the end of August, three men from Austin, 
Texas, came north to St. Paul as part of a 
protest group intending to disrupt the Republican 
National Convention. It's doubtful any of them 
expected things to turn out quite like this.

On Thursday, one of the Austin men, Bradley 
Crowder, 23, pleaded guilty in federal court to 
making Molotov cocktails. Another, David McKay, 
awaits trial on the same charges. The third, 
Brandon Darby, has revealed that he's been an 
informant for the FBI since late 2007, gathering 
intelligence on protest groups -- including his 
onetime comrades. Much of his work -- alleged 
video and audio evidence from the protesters' 
inner circle -- is at the heart of the case against Crowder and McKay.

Those who've worked for years with Darby now 
wonder if he wasn't always a provocateur in the 
feds' pocket, prodding others to commit illegal acts.

Darby insists he was an honest activist whose 
beliefs "evolved" after violence became the goal in St. Paul.

As for Crowder and McKay, they face the prospect 
of several years in federal prison for something 
that other protesters and McKay's attorney doubt 
they would have come up with on their own.

"The pattern has been there for a long, long 
time," said community organizer Lisa Fithian, one 
of several protesters who said Darby provoked 
others. "We could see the influence he was having."

Said Jeff DeGree, McKay's attorney: "We're 
looking forward to the trial and we're looking 
more closely at [Darby's] role in this."

Who did what?

On Thursday, Crowder admitted to U.S. Chief Judge 
Michael J. Davis that he bought the gasoline and 
helped assemble eight Molotov cocktails just 
before the start of the Republican National 
Convention. Depending on a pre-sentence 
investigation, his plea deal could mean anywhere 
from 30 months to 46 months in prison -- 
depending on whether the court finds that he was 
a minor player or a key figure in the plan.

Federal officials say Crowder and McKay intended 
to use the Molotov cocktails against police in 
revenge after police seized a trailer that 
contained handmade shields they intended to use 
during protests. While Crowder didn't say on 
Thursday what he intended to do with the 
explosives, he did say that McKay helped.

McKay's trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 26.

Crowder, who was arrested in St. Paul on Sept. 1 
on suspicion of disorderly conduct, was the 
leader of the Austin Affinity Group and had come 
to Minneapolis in May to meet with others to 
discuss plans to disrupt the convention.

Also at that meeting, it turns out, was Darby, 
who gathered information about McKay, Crowder and 
others and turned it over to the FBI.

In fact, Darby had been working for the FBI 
inside the Austin group since November 2007, 
gathering information about convention protest plans and protesters.

In an interview Wednesday, Darby said he didn't 
join these groups with the intention to become a 
government informant. He had worked in New 
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to bring 
attention to the government's lack of action there, he said.

"We were all very radical and upset at the 
government," he said. "And I think my views have matured and theirs haven't."

Informant plans to testify

Darby, 32, who plans to testify at McKay's trial, 
said he went to work with the FBI after hearing plans that included violence.

His actions, he said, prevented people from getting hurt.

"That's why I feel OK," he said. "I have peace today."

He declined to tell his story in detail before 
the trial. "I know what the truth is. I know what 
the facts are. And I'm looking forward to a time when it will all come out."

But Scott Crow, a longtime Texas community 
organizer who worked with Darby in New Orleans, 
said he now doubts Darby's motivations even then. 
He always seemed a little too willing to goad 
police, Crow said, and get others into trouble.

"Over the years, I've known him to be erratic, to 
be judgmental. Also somewhat crazy. He's a very provocative person," Crow said.

Darby posted an open letter on the 
<http://Indymedia.org>Indymedia.org website on 
Dec. 30, admitting his role as an undercover informant.

Protesters see a set-up

Crow and Fithian think there's more to it than that.

"He would pit people against each other. He would 
spread rumors. He would point fingers at other 
people as being FBI agents," Fithian said.

That provocation, Crow said, carried over to McKay and Crowder.

"From my position, it appears Brandon provoked and set them up," he said.

E.K. Wilson, a spokesman for the Minneapolis 
office of the FBI, said he cannot comment on 
whether Darby was an informant or the scope of 
his work. He did acknowledge that the FBI uses 
inside players "as a tool" in their investigative efforts.

McKay's attorney DeGree, however, said 
investigators may have gone too far in this case.

"Law enforcement used pretty aggressive 
techniques" in their investigation of convention 
protesters, he said. "And, possibly, Darby's 
actions are reflective of all this aggressive, possibly illegal, conduct."

James Walsh • 612-673-7428

Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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