There was a hearing for the Cleveland 5 defendants on July 25, and supporters in the courtroom were shocked to hear that one of the defendants, Anthony Hayne, had entered a guilty plea and offer of testimony in exchange for his cooperation in turning state’s evidence. Mr. Hayne had some prior convictions in 2000, but the real problem is that his name was on the lease of a building that would have been used for the alleged attack. There’s an overview about the change here. 

As is expressed on the support website, this will complicate any effort the defense tries to make to show entrapment. It’s still difficult to know how this will affect the trial, but it will probably make it easier for the prosecution to avoid having their evidence thrown out for entrapment. The trial is still scheduled for Sept 17, the date that will mark the one-year anniversary of the occupation of Zuccotti Park in NY. No coincidence THAT.

Which brings me back to my point about the Black Bloc that I made last week. My guess is that once officialdom gets a conviction against Occupy members for a terrorism charge, we’re going to have far fewer sympathizers in the general population. And the government is going to use that conviction to crack down even harder.