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Alleged RNC Molotov cocktail maker to change plea

Posted at 5:55 PM on January 7, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice

MPR's Elizabeth Stawicki says one of the Texas men accused of trying to disrupt the Republican National Convention with Molotov cocktails is scheduled to change his not guilty plea tomorrow in federal court in Minneapolis The brief court document does not reveal any details about Bradley Crowder's plea and his lawyer declined to comment.

Last fall, his father told the Star Tribune that his son "was looking for excitement and hooked up with the wrong people on their way to protest at the Republican National Convention."

Much of the evidence against Crowder and one other man came from an informant from Texas who infiltrated a protest group. (See his affadavit)

Another man, David McKay, is scheduled to go to trial later this month.

Acknowledging his role in the investigation, the informant -- Brandon Darby -- has not endeared himself to the RNC protest groups.

If the second trial is not settled, Darby will have to tell his story in open court.

Comments (3)

Wow, that video just insulted my intelligence on so many levels. Especially since the statement Darby made (that people can protest but random violence is unacceptable) is certainly true. It's hard to believe they would try to ostracize this person, they should be agreeing with him.

Honestly I had no problems with people protesting at the RNC, only people blocking streets, creating havok, and provoking police. Especially considering they weren't doing it in the general area of the event. If you did it right in front of the Xcel, that's one thing, but people were doing things on Wabasha, Robert, and many other places that weren't even within any viewable area from people attending the convention.

Perhaps they were simply trying to get news attention? Except it doesn't give attention to their cause, only their actions. There were plenty of peaceful protests, but most of them only got half of the reporting they might have due to the other events that unfolded.

Note that I didn't attend any protests, I simply live downtown. I did something much more useful instead: I voted.

Posted by JSmith | January 8, 2009 8:22 AM

The Government had no case without the testimony of Brandon Darby. When his role as a snitch was exposed stories started coming out of the woodwork about Brandon's violent, paranoid and incendiary actions. He would have been completely discredited as an agent provocateur if he had to testify in open court and allowed other testimony on the role Darby played in entraping the Texas 2.

I don't know how long it will take for all of this to come out, but even with what we already know, this is a shameful example of the government abusing its power and creating dischord for its own ends.

http://brandondarby.com

Posted by Lee Otis Johnson | January 8, 2009 3:31 PM

I think the main problem that these activists have with DArby is so much bigger than anything that happened at the RNC. When you live and work beside someone for years and then find out they are reporting on your activities to the FBI, especially while trying to incite you, it is a huge betrayal and would be for ANYONE. This is not just whiny activists, who are mad they got in trouble. In fact most people Brandon associated with have done nothing wrong. BRandon says he did this to stop violence, but what is the word of a liar worth?

Posted by mary | January 9, 2009 9:44 AM