Anarchist group from 2008 RNC firebomb plot linked to arson at Texas Governor’s Mansion
Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 5:40 pm
- 4 Comments
Investigators have linked an anarchist group prosecuted for the 2008 Republican National Convention Molotov plot in St. Paul to a 2008 arson at the Texas Governor’s Mansion, the Austin American-Statesman reports.
Texas Department of Public Safety Officials have released two sketches of one suspect who has not been identified, along with two videos, one of which shows a person throwing a Molotov cocktail at the front door of the Mansion, which then burst into flames.
In 2009, Paul Demko, then of the Minnesota Independent, reported on the prosecution of Austin-based activist David Guy McKay, who pleaded guilty to making Molotov cocktails for the purpose of disrupting the 2008 RNC. An issue that arose during McKay’s trial was the role of FBI informant Brandon Darby in the plot. McKay’s admission of guilt was accepted by a judge only after McKay stopped insisting that Darby helped make the incendiary devices.
As Demko reported in March 2009:
“McKay had initially pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. A trial last month ended in a hung jury. But prosecutors had since come up with additional evidence, including a phone conversation between McKay and his father in which he acknowledged that the Molotov cocktails were produced without assistance from Darby.”
In January 2009, a group calling itself the Austin Informant Working Group accused Darby of provoking the violent plot and also spying on lawful, nonviolent activists on behalf of the federal government.
On December 29, 2008, Darby released a statement attempting to explain why he worked for the FBI, as well as a video of Darby advocating for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
McKay is serving a four-year sentence, which began immediately after his guilty plea was accepted in March 2009. Another activist, Bradley Crowder, was released in May 2010, according to the Statesman.
4 Comments
Comment posted February 18, 2011 @ 9:52 am
I’m sorry, this is some of the most horrible reporting to be published on the Independent. All you did was take the basic outline of the Austin story, remove all the relevant details that show what a shaky case it is, and talk about McKay’s case without any context.
That context includes the fact that his first trial ended in a hung jury, and he only pled guilty after coercive measures by the top area US attorney – assigned to the case because it was so important for the government’s “terrorism” statistics. You link to Darby’s statement but not the years of evidence of his disruption of social movements through sexism, lies and manipulation. For just a start, you might check out: http://rnc08report.org
As for Austin media, I suppose it’s predictable that they would hype up an assault on their sacred leader’s mansion. But even according to that article, the “connection” actually goes like this: a video shows someone in a white jeep cherokee taking photos of the mansion. There are 3,000 white jeep cherokees in texas, and one happens to be owned by an anarchist. It doesn’t even say what the group is. The article doesn’t seek comment from anyone but the cops. It’s the level of journalism you’d expect from Nile TV.
And as for molotov cocktails? The Egyptian pro-democracy uprising used them, too – as has most every liberation struggle anywhere. Any writer who wants to sensationalize a story by talking about molotovs, especially in a context-less manner like this, is desperately clinging to their reader’s ignorance.
Comment posted February 20, 2011 @ 4:19 pm
haloka…of course there is a bias…good of you to notice and comment…we read a variety of sites and come up with some version of the truth…this may have editorial distortion but, what doesn’t?
Comment posted April 5, 2011 @ 5:07 pm
Hey, if you would all like to see the documentary “Better this World:”, you would see that neither David or Bradley were repsponsible for this horrible act…..look deeper into the situation and I as a Mother knew exactly who was responsible for the governers act……duh!@
P.S. I saw the national video and that was not the physical aspects nor emotional aspects of David or Bradley
P.P.S. Look at the ages of the men involved, as well as the agenda!
Pingback posted November 12, 2011 @ 11:45 am
[...] of the security cameras were turned off. The attack is being blamed on anarchists but, even if so, it may have been an FBI-sponsored operation). Setting aside issues of who did it, Perry stripped the Mansion of [...]
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