Brandon Darby
| Brandon Darby | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 2, 1976 |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Social and political activism, FBI informant |
Brandon Darby was an informant for the FBI and previously a co-founder of Common Ground Relief,[1] a non-profit relief organization that provided supplies and assistance to New Orleanians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He was Director of Operations for the organization from January to April 2007.[2]
Darby's role as a community organizer and, at times, a humanitarian relief activist, has been the subject of numerous print, radio and television reports, as well as having been profiled in several documentary films, some which have been critical of his actions.
Brandon Darby is better known for his role in infiltrating a small group of 2008 Republican National Convention protesters while working as an FBI informant and subsequently taking the stand against them in court. The two activists out of a group of eight who actually served or are serving jail time are David McKay and Bradley Crowder.[3]
[edit] Role in infiltrating protest groups at the 2008 RNC, and consequences
Darby started working as an FBI informant in November 2007,[4] which Darby acknowledged and justified in a December 2008 open letter to his former fellow community organizers and activists.[5]
Darby infiltrated groups that organized protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota, giving the FBI information which led to the seizure of 34 homemade riot shields brought from Texas.[6] Two activists from Texas, David McKay and Bradley Crowder, then purchased materials for and constructed firebombs (Molotov cocktails) that they appear to have contemplated using on state owned vehicles; cocktail-making evidence was seized in a raid by local police supported by the FBI, and so the key issue of further criminality by McKay and Crowder was whether FBI informant Darby encouraged this escalation in violence (given his documented history of militant activism, and McKay and Crowder's general inexperience with social action and activism; see trial results below.[3] Specific claims by others in attendance at the protest (e.g., Ms. Gabby Hicks) state clearly that FBI informant Darby was "...the one to suggest violence, when the rest of us clearly disagreed..." and that "[a]s an older seasoned activist, Darby had a lot of sway over Crowder and McKay, making them susceptible to his often militant rhetoric"[7] i.e. that he acted as an agent provocateur. As well, a former Darby girlfriend and various former colleagues attribute self-serving rather than altruistic or patriotic motivations to Darby's decision to act as an FBI informant.[7]
Neither Crowder nor McKay would agree to testify against the other;[3] Crowder ultimately accepted a plea agreement without trial resulting in 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release.[8] McKay took his case to trial, claiming entrapment by government informant Darby. The trial ended with a hung jury, in a vote of 6-6.[3] Jury interviews indicated that considerable jury discussion centered around the veracity of witnesses McKay and Darby (the former claiming entrapment, the latter denying), with the significant proportion voting to acquit arising because of how Darby's representation of events was perceived.[3]
Shortly before the retrial date, defendant McKay accepted a 24 month plea arrangement for the charges against him, and in doing so formally retracted his claim that Darby entrapped him;[9] however, further documentary evidence suggests that both McKay and Crowder remain firm in their initial account of events, but that McKay's decision to take the plea deal was motivated by the awareness that 90% of federal cases result in convictions, and that a conviction could result in a sentence of tens of years.[3]
Following the plea arrangement, McKay was sentenced to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release,[10] with a reason given for the longer than agreed sentence being the obstruction of justice assigned to McKay's initial claim that government informant Darby had entrapped him.[11][12]
Darby has indicated his decisions in his service as an informant against Crowder and McKay have led him to have some sleepless nights.[3] In left-wing activist communities, Darby is widely despised for his role in McKay's conviction. He has been welcomed by conservative organizations as a patriot.[7][13]
On November 12, 2011, Darby spoke alongside controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio at the "Choose Liberty 2012" conference in Florida, sponsored by the Eastern Orlando Tea Party.[14]
[edit] References
- ^ "New Orleans: Update From Common Ground Relief". A-Infos Radio Project. September 3, 2009. http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/29297. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ Buncombe, Andrew (March 9, 2007). "Desolation row: The betrayal of New Orleans". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/desolation-row-the-betrayal-of-new-orleans-439511.html. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Better This World". POV. PBS. http://www.pbs.org/pov/betterthisworld/. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ Hanners, David (January 1, 2009). "Social activist, organizer ... and RNC informant". Pioneer Press, Twin Cities.com. http://web.archive.org/web/20090606055635/http://www.twincities.com/ci_11352449.
- ^ Moynihan, Colin (January 4, 2009). "Activist Unmasks Himself as Federal Informant in G.O.P. Convention Case". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/us/05informant.html. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sept. 8, 2008. Affidavit by Special Agent Christopher Langert
- ^ a b c "Austin RNC Informant is Provocateur Not Hero". Houston Independent Media Center. January 6, 2009. http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2009/01/66155.php. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ Austin, Texas Man Sentenced for Possessing Molotov Cocktails During the Republican National Convention, Department of Justice Press Release, US Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota, May 14, 2009
- ^ Walsh, James (May 21, 2009). "Second Texan gets four years in RNC plot". Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=45694662. ""I embellished — I guess actually lied — that Brandon Darby came up with the idea to make Molotov cocktails." — David Guy McKay"
- ^ Flener, Matt (January 8, 2009). "RNC suspect pleads guilty". KXAN News. http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/RNC_suspect_pleads_guilty.
- ^ Walsh, James (May 21, 2009). "Second Texan gets four years in RNC plot". Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=45694662.
- ^ Texas Man Sentenced on Firearms Charges Connected to the Republican National Convention, Department of Justice Press Release, US Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota, May 21, 2009.
- ^ Harkinson, Josh (September/October 2011). "How a Radical Leftist Became the FBI's BFF". Mother Jones. http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/brandon-darby-anarchist-fbi-terrorism. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ http://www.breitbart.tv/tea-party-fights-back-occupyorlando-forceably-removed-from-sheriff-joe-arpaio-event/
[edit] External links
- "Solidarity Not Charity", Common Ground Relief
- "The Informant: Revolutionary to rat: The uneasy journey of Brandon Darby", Austin Chronicle, January 22, 2009
- "Better This World", a documentary from PBS's long-running series P.O.V.
- "Turncoat," This American Life, Chicago Public Radio, May 22, 2009
