2008 Republican Convention activities

Darby started working as an FBI informant in November 2007, to infiltrate groups planning protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.^[12] He gave the FBI information which led to the seizure of 34 homemade riot shields brought from Texas.^[13] Two activists from Texas, David McKay and Bradley Crowder, purchased materials for and constructed firebombs (Molotov cocktails) that they appear to have planned to use against state-owned vehicles. Evidence of the firebombs was seized in a raid by local police, which was supported by the FBI.

At McKay and Crowder's trial the question was raised whether Darby encouraged their escalation in violence.^[14] Specific claims about this were made by others in attendance at the protest (e.g., Gabby Hicks stated that 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"),^[15] suggesting that Darby acted as an agent provocateur. A former Darby girlfriend and various former colleagues allege that Darby informed for the FBI not due to patriotism or altruism, but for self-serving motives.^[15]

In a December 2008 open letter to his former fellow community organizers and activists, Darby acknowledged having worked as an informant for the FBI.^[16][17]

Neither Crowder nor McKay agreed to testify against the other in court.^[14] Rather than go to trial, Crowder accepted a plea agreement in 2009 on charges of possessing Molotov cocktails during the convention.^[18] He served 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release.^[18]

McKay took his case to trial, claiming entrapment by Darby. The trial ended with a hung jury, in a vote of 6-6.^[14] Jury interviews indicated that much of their discussion had concerned assessing the veracity of defendant McKay and witness Darby (the former claiming entrapment, the latter denying). A significant portion of the jury had voted to acquit based on their acceptance of Darby's representation of events.^[14] The prosecutor prepared to retry McKay's case.

Shortly before the retrial date in 2009, McKay accepted a 24-month plea deal sentence for the charges against him. He formally retracted his claim that Darby had entrapped him.^[19] Critics have suggested that both McKay and Crowder remained firm in their initial account of events, and that additional documentary evidence supported them. McKay's decision to take the plea deal was based on his awareness that 90% of federal cases result in convictions, and he was at risk of being sentenced to decades in prison if found guilty.^[14]

Following the plea arrangement, McKay pleaded guilty to possession of firearms and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release.^[20] The length of sentence was attributed to a charge of obstruction of justice, based on McKay's having initially claimed that Darby had entrapped him.^[21][22] David McKay and Bradley Crowder were still serving jail sentences as of late 2011.^[14]

In many left-wing activist communities, Darby has been criticized^[15] and ostracized^[2][23][24] for his role in McKay's conviction.^[2][24]