Three arrested in alleged bomb plot targeting Somalis in Kansas
Saturday October 15, 2016
The
men are members of a small militia group that calls itself “the Crusaders”, and
whose members espouse sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim and
anti-immigrant extremist beliefs, according to the complaint.
Three members of a
Kansas militia group were charged on Friday with plotting to bomb an apartment
complex that’s home to Somali immigrants in the western Kansas meat-packing
town of Garden City, a thwarted attack prosecutors say was planned for the day
after the presidential election in November.
The arrests were the culmination of an eight-month FBI
investigation that took agents “deep into a hidden culture of hatred and
violence”, Acting US Attorney Tom Beall said.
A complaint unsealed on Friday charges Curtis Wayne Allen, 49;
Patrick Eugene Stein, 47; and Gavin Wayne Wright, 49, with conspiring to use a
weapon of mass destruction. Their first court appearance is on Monday.
Prosecutors said the men don’t yet have attorneys. Publicly listed
phone numbers for the men couldn’t immediately be found.
The men are members of a small militia group that calls itself “the Crusaders”, and whose members espouse sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant extremist beliefs, according to the complaint.
The men are members of a small militia group that calls itself “the Crusaders”, and whose members espouse sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant extremist beliefs, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges group members chose the target based on
their hatred for Muslims, people of Somali descent and immigrants – and out of
a desire to inspire other militia groups and “wake people up”.
The FBI began a domestic terrorism investigation of the group in February, and a confidential source attended its meetings in southwestern Kansas.
The FBI began a domestic terrorism investigation of the group in February, and a confidential source attended its meetings in southwestern Kansas.
In a June meeting, Stein brought up the Orlando nightclub
shooting, and proposed carrying out a similar attack against Muslim refugees in
Garden City, according to the complaint.
They ultimately decided to target the apartment complex because of
the number of Somalis who lived there and the fact that one of the apartments
was used as a mosque. The complex houses about 120 Somali residents, Beall
said.
The complaint said that Stein discussed the explosives used in the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh.
The complaint said that Stein discussed the explosives used in the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh.
The men, who were arrested in Liberal on Friday morning, performed
surveillance of the apartment building and prepared a manifesto, Beall said.
In a profanity-laced conference call that law enforcement
monitored, Stein said the only way “this country’s ever going to get turned
around is it will be a bloodbath”, according to the complaint.
If convicted, the men could be sentenced to up to life in federal
prison without parole.
Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Centre’s Intelligence Project, called the details of the plot disturbing, saying it “should serve as a warning to those who traffic in the politics of fear and bigotry”.
Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Centre’s Intelligence Project, called the details of the plot disturbing, saying it “should serve as a warning to those who traffic in the politics of fear and bigotry”.
Garden City is home to a Tyson Foods beef slaughterhouse that has
drawn a diverse immigrant population to the area.
Dr John Birky, a
physician who’s helping to create a clinic and working with refugees on a
language programme, said some local residents fear the refugees, mistakenly
associating them with militants in Somalia.“People do express more of a general
sentiment of, ‘Why are we letting these refugees in here? Why are we? They’re
taking our jobs, plus they’re Muslim’,” he said.
Birky said between 300 and 500 Somali refugees live in the area.
The state Department for Children and Families said that of the 906 refugees
who arrived in Kansas from October 2014 through January 2016, 68 were from
Somalia, or 7.5 per cent.
Garden City Mayor Chris Law said in a statement that he was
shocked by the planned attack, and Birky called it “crazy”.
Birky said most are fleeing militants in Somalia and want to assimilate once they reach Kansas.
Birky said most are fleeing militants in Somalia and want to assimilate once they reach Kansas.
“They’re trying to make a better life for their families here,” he
said. “They want to pursue the American dream.”
Friday’s arrests and charges prompted the Council on
American-Islamic Relations to call on state and federal law enforcement
agencies across the nation to increase protection for mosques and other Islamic
institutions. The group also cited reports of threats against a Michigan centre
and anti-Muslim graffiti at a New Jersey mosque.
“We ask our nation’s political leaders, and particularly political
candidates, to reject the growing Islamophobia in our nation,” Nihad Awad, the
group’s national executive director, said in a statement.
The case is the latest involving militia groups in the state.
Earlier this year, a planned armed protest outside a Wichita mosque prompted
the Islamic Society of Wichita to cancel an appearance by a speaker whom
protesters believed supported terrorism.
The Justice Department’s National Security Division created a new
position a year ago to help coordinate investigations into violent home-grown
extremism, like the one that resulted in the three arrests.
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