iStock/Thinkstock(WICHITA, Kan.) — Three Kansas men are facing domestic terrorism charges after allegedly planning a bombing attack on an apartment complex that houses a mosque and Somali immigrants, according to the Department of Justice.
Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright, and Patrick Eugene Stein were arrested Friday morning after an eight-month investigation by the FBI, the DOJ said in a news release. Allen and Wright, both 49, and Stein, 47, are suspected of plotting to make four vehicle-borne IEDs and then place them at four corners of the apartment complex in Garden City, Kansas.
The three men were charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, according to the DOJ, and belonged to a militia group called “The Crusaders.” A confidential source, who attended the group’s meetings, helped provide information to the FBI, the DOJ said.
Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said the FBI discovered the group was involved in “a hidden culture of hatred and violence.”
“One of them said the bombing would, quote, ‘Wake people up,'” he said Friday at a news conference in Wichita.
Beall said the men allegedly conducted surveillance to identify potential targets.
“They stockpiled firearms, ammunition and explosive components – they even prepared a manifesto describing their beliefs, to be published after the bombing,” he said.
If convicted, the three men could face life in federal prison.
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