RNC activist says he's an FBI informer

ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A well-known community activist who worked with protesters at last year's Republican National Convention in St. Paul says he's an FBI informant.

Brandon Darby, an organizer from Austin, Tex., who gained prominence as a member of Common Ground Relief, which helped victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, has announced in an open letter that he has been working as an FBI mole and said he will testify at the Minnesota trial of two fellow Texans accused of hurling Molotov cocktails during the RNC, The New York Times reported Monday.

In an interview with the Times, Darby defended his decision as "a good moral way to use my time," telling the newspaper he wanted to prevent violence during the convention at the Xcel Energy Center.

David McKay and Bradley Crowder, both also from Austin, are scheduled to go on trial in Minnesota on Jan. 26. If convicted on all counts of making and possessing Molotov cocktails, each faces a prison sentence of up to 30 years.

"I am well aware that I've stepped outside of accepted behaviors and that I've committed a sin in the eyes of many activists," Darby told the Times.