http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/37313649.html?e...

Several RNC protesters say Brandon Darby, an FBI informant, prodded others to commit illegal acts.

By JAMES WALSH, Star Tribune

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 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