Three Detained Over ‘Bomb Plot’ Against Somalis In Kansas

MEP: Three Kansas men were arrested Friday for allegedly plotting to bomb an apartment complex occupied by Somali immigrants in southwest Kansas, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

The men were part of a militia group whose members called themselves “The Crusaders,” Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said at a news conference. They had conspired to detonate a bomb at an apartment complex in Garden City, Kan., which houses about 120 people, many of whom are Muslim.

The three men – identified by Beall as Curtis Allen, 49, Gavin Wright, 49, and Patrick Stein, 47 – were arrested in Liberal on Friday morning.

The FBI began a domestic terrorism investigation of the group in February, and a confidential source attended its meetings in southwestern Kansas.

A confidential source attended meetings of The Crusaders and told the FBI about the men’s plans, the DOJ said.

Stein met with an undercover FBI employee Oct. 12 and test-fired automatic weapons, the DOJ said. Stein took the source to the apartment building the men allegedly planned to bomb and said he would provide ammonium nitrate for the bomb and contribute $200 to $300 for other materials, the DOJ said.

They planned to set off the bomb on November 9 so as not to affect the US presidential elections which takes place on November 8, according to federal investigators.