WICHITA, Kan. _ A major federal investigation stopped a domestic terrorism plot by a militia group to detonate bombs at a Garden City, Kan., apartment complex where a number of Somalis live, officials said Friday.
Three southwestern Kansas men were arrested and charged in federal court with domestic terrorism charges, Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall told reporters at a news conference in Wichita.
The three conspired to set off a bomb where about 120 people, including many Muslim immigrants from Somalia, live and worship, Beall said. The apartment complex in Garden City also served as a mosque, officials said.
Curtis Allen, 49, Gavin Wright, 49, and Patrick Stein, 47, were arrested in Liberal on Friday morning, Beall said. Allen and Wright are Liberal residents. Stein lives in Wright and is the owner of G&H Mobile Home Center in Liberal, Beall said.
The men are members of a small militia group that call themselves the Crusaders, Beall said.
The investigation involved an FBI probe "deep into a hidden culture of hatred, violence" and what amounted to a startling plot, Beall said. The FBI launched its investigation eight months ago, on Feb. 16.
"These individuals had the desire, the means and the capabilities and were committed to carrying out this act of domestic terrorism," Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson said.
In an emailed statement after the plot's announcement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on state and federal law enforcement agencies to step up protection for mosques. The group is the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.
"Given this alleged plan to attack a Kansas mosque, the two other hate incidents reported today against Islamic institutions in Michigan and New Jersey, and the overall spike in anti-mosque incidents nationwide, state and federal authorities should offer stepped-up protection to local communities," Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.
CAIR-Kansas board chair Moussa Elbayoumy characterized the Garden City group as "fairly small" and "a mix of people from different backgrounds." Some of its members had complained of discrimination in the past, he said.
Beall and Jackson, at the news conference, said the men were stockpiling weapons and were going to publish a manifesto after the bombing, which was occur Nov. 9 so as to not affect the general election.
One of the men said that the bombing "would quote, 'wake people up,'" Beall said.
They formed a plan of violent attack targeting Somalis and _ after considering a host of targets, including pro-Somali churches and public officials _ settled on the apartment complex. Some residents of the complex maintained an apartment that served as a mosque, he said.
The plot involved obtaining four vehicles and filling them with explosives. The men discussed parking the vehicles at the four corners of the complex and detonating them to "create a big explosion," Beall said.
Beall said one of the men _ Stein _ met with a confidential FBI source in rural Finney County on Oct. 12 to examine some automatic weapons brought by the source from an FBI lab in Quantico, Va.
After trying out two of the firearms, Stein took the FBI source to see the Garden City complex where the attack was planned.
Stein told the FBI source he would provide ammonium nitrate for the bomb and that he wanted to contribute $200 to $300 for other materials, Beall said.
Stein also told the FBI source he was worried Allen's girlfriend would go to the Liberal Police Department and disclose the militia's plans, Beall said. Allen, he said, had been arrested in a domestic violence case in Liberal on Oct. 11.
The three men are being held in Sedgwick County and face arraignment Monday.
If convicted, they could face life in federal prison, Beall said.
Beall thanked the FBI and its partners in state and local law enforcement.
The defendants were "planning to take imminent actions," said Jackson, the FBI special agent in charge.
"They were committed to carrying this out," he said. The plot, he said, is a reminder that as a society, "we must remain vigilant."
Jackson declined to be specific about how the FBI got the information that led to the investigation.
He described the defendants as being part of a militia with "sovereign citizen" ties.
Asked if there could be more suspects, Jackson said, "We feel as though the individuals involved in this plot have been stopped and that the individuals' plot has been stopped."
Beall referred to the defendants' group, the Crusaders, as being an isolated group.
Jackson wouldn't say how big the group was or if it had links to other groups. The investigation continues, he said.
Beall said the case shows that such an attack "can happen anywhere."
