Interesting story here.

In a federal courtroom in Minneapolis this month, the public transformation of Brandon Darby of Austin will become complete.

In four years, he has gone from a never-trust-the-government activist to the confidential informant who helped the FBI arrest two Austin men on suspicion of building firebombs during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in September.

“I feel like, as an activist, I played a direct role in stopping violence,” Darby, 32, said in his first interview on his role.

Darby was the government’s chief informant in the case against David McKay and Bradley Crowder. The two are scheduled to go on trial in U.S. District Court on Jan. 26 on accusations they built Molotov cocktails during the convention. They are being held without bail.

Prosecutors say the two men built the firebombs because they were angry that police had seized a trailer filled with riot shields they had built and hauled to Minnesota.

In a conversation recorded by the FBI, McKay told Darby he planned to use the explosives on law-enforcement cars parked in a lot near the convention site, officials said.

“What if there’s a cop sleeping in the car?” Darby asked McKay, according to an affidavit by Christopher Langert, a special agent in the FBI’s Minneapolis office. “He’ll wake up,” McKay allegedly replied.

McKay also told Darby, “It’s worth it if an officer gets burned or maimed,” the affidavit said.

Darby had been working as an informant since November 2007, almost a year before the GOP convention , and in an e-mail sent to friends Monday, he said he was comfortable with that.

“Like many of you, I do my best to act in good conscience and to do what I believe to be most helpful to the world,” he wrote.

Darby’s admission shocked Austin’s activist community, which includes people who have worked with him on a variety of grass roots organizing efforts for years.

“Everyone that knew Brandon has gone through a whole range of emotions. Clearly, he’s betrayed the trust of the community, and all the communities he’s worked with,” said Lisa Fithian, a social-justice activist who worked with Darby in Austin.

Betrayed the trust of the community by saving lives at the GOP convention in Austin? Really?

It’s interesting to read stories like these. “Peace” activists often don’t seem to have a problem using violence to accomplish their own goals, and apparently because Brandon Darby saved the lives of police officers and Republicans, he’s now a traitor to his movement? It really makes you curious about this Lisa Fithian, who exactly it is that she’s speaking for, what they stand for, and how far they’ll go to get what they want.

It’s a shame, really. Considering liberals tout themselves as the most tolerant people EVER, you’d think they’d be lauding Darby as the hero he is. But no — his actions, which saved who knows how many lives, are being called a betrayal of trust to his community. A website has even been set up to denounce him as a snitch, calling his actions “malicious”, “heartbreaking”, and “ground-shattering”. If these people had any moral and integrity at all, wouldn’t they be more worried about the violence that was going to be committed in their names, and not that someone had the decency to tell the FBI about it before anyone got hurt? If these people are not violent radicals themselves who support the bombing of police and political opponents, then why do they so strongly oppose Darby’s heroic actions?

Hat Tip: Hot Air