3 Men Arrested in Plot to Bomb Kansas Apartment Complex, Mosque Following Presidential Election
Three members of a southwest Kansas militia dubbed the聽"Crusaders鈥� were arrested聽Friday on charges stemming from a plot to attack a housing complex that聽houses a mosque in Garden City, Kan.
Editors' Note: This post has been updated.听
Curtis Allen, 49,聽Gavin Wright, 49,聽of Liberal, Kan., and Patrick Stein, 47, a resident of a nearby Dodge City, Kan., had stockpiled firearms and explosives. They聽planned to use four explosive-laden vehicles parked at the corners of the complex, which is home to a number of Somali immigrants, officials聽said during a news conference.听
The group, which called itself the 鈥淐rusaders鈥� had prepared a manifesto in which they said they hoped their attack, scheduled for the day after the General Election, would 鈥渨ake people up,鈥� Tom Beall, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, said.听
A confidential source attended meetings of the group and provided the FBI with information about the defendants鈥� activities. The criminal complaint alleges that the men conducted surveillance to identify potential targets, stockpiled firearms, ammunition and explosive components, and planned to issue a manifesto in conjunction with the planned bombing.
According to the complaint, Stein said:聽
鈥淭he only f------聽way this country鈥檚 ever going to get turned around is it will be a bloodbath and it will be a nasty, messy motherf-----. Unless a lot more people in this country wake up and smell the f------聽coffee and decide they want this country back 鈥� we might be too late, if they do wake up 鈥� I think we can get it done. But it ain鈥檛 going to be nothing nice about it.鈥澛�
The criminal complaint release also stated that the 鈥淐rusaders鈥� was synonymous with an antigovernment group called the Kansas Security Force (KSF).听The KSF shares a name with a much larger antigovernment coalition called the Three Percent Security Force, which claims to have chapters in numerous states and takes its name聽from the disputed claim that only three聽percent of American colonists fought the British. The leader of the Three Percent Security Force is the Georgia-based Chris Hill, who goes by the name 鈥淕eneral Bloodagent.鈥�
In February,聽Hill wrote on Facebook:聽
鈥淕ovt may kill or detain me. I am GENBLooDAgenT. Cover me. 鈥� Domestic Terrorist. We are better Martyrs 鈥� I am HoLYWaR.鈥�
Hill, who also serves as the Georgia chapter head, told Hatewatch that his group聽is 鈥渁ssociated鈥� with one KSF group, but that there are multiple. Hill stated that the group he is associated with is run by Ronald Greek, but Hill claimed he only talks to Greek 鈥渙ne time a year.鈥� Hill went on to say that he was not familiar with any of the three men arrested in Kansas today.
Greek is a member of a closed Facebook group named, 鈥淚II% Security Force of Kansas.鈥� Another member of the 46-person group is Patrick Stein, one of the three men arrested on Friday. Another closed Facebook group with the name 鈥淜ansas State Guard/Kansas Security Force鈥� has two members one of whom is Curtis Allen, another of the men arrested today.听
Though it is unclear to what extent these groups are tied to Hill鈥檚 coalition, both share rabidly anti-Muslim views, which have increasingly become聽commonplace in the antigovernment movement. Hill鈥檚 chapter,聽for example,聽has been in the news as of late for their in Covington, Georgia. In September, Hill鈥檚 group forced the cancellation of a county meeting set to discuss the construction of the mosque. Commissioners claimed 鈥渦ncivil threats鈥� from Hill鈥檚 group prompted their cancellation. In an interview with media, Hill stated, 鈥淩ight over there this is going to be a future ISIS training group. This is where you鈥檙e going to see terrorism taking hold in Newton County.鈥�
Allen, Wright and Stein聽appear聽to have targeted the apartment complex聽because it was home to a number of Somali immigrants. The targeting of refugees and those institutions helping to settle refugees has been on the rise in recent years.听
According to an affidavit filed in the case,聽the men repeatedly referred to Somalis as 鈥渃ockroaches,鈥� claiming that the apartment complex聽was 鈥渇ull of goddamn cockroaches.鈥� On one 鈥減atrol鈥� of the area, Stein screamed out the window at Somali women in traditional garb, 鈥渇------聽r------聽b------!鈥�
Stein, in particularly, left a hate-filled footprint on social media, where he frequently posted about Muslims.
In July of this year, Stein wrote a lengthy screed filled with anti-Muslim and antigovernment rhetoric. He claimed the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the White House, a common conspiracy theory most notably touted by Frank Gaffney, head of the anti-Muslim think tank Center for Security Policy (CSP). Stein also called Muslims 鈥渃ockroaches鈥� and claimed, they "are provided more assistance and privileges than our vets are provided.鈥�
Stein also ranted about Hillary Clinton:聽
"I'm angry that our politicians are no good, lying, caniving, crooked, corrupt, treasonist, a------- that should be imprisoned at the least...I'm angry we allow one of the most corrupt, deceitful, lying, caniving, treasonist, POS (Hillary Clinton) on the planet to run for president while under investigation by the FBI...I'm angry that elections are rigged by the elitist (FYI: YOUR VOTE DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE)鈥�
The arrests cap an eight-month investigation led by the FBI involving several聽confidential informants. On Oct. 12, according to a Justice Department news release, Stein met with one of those informants in rural Finney County, Kansas. There, they test fired automatic weapons before visiting the apartment building, where Stein told the FBI source he would provide money for the attack ammonium nitrate for the bomb 鈥撯�撀爐he same component Timothy McVeigh used in the 1995 to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City.
The men also contemplated attacking churches that have supported the relocation of refugees, court documents show. In one conversation, Stein said, 鈥淭hat mother f-----聽needs burnt to the ground.鈥� Other potential targets included city/county commission meetings, local public officials, landlords who rent property to Muslim refugees and organizations providing assistance to Muslim refugees.听These locations were plotted out on Google maps and labeled 鈥渃ockroaches.鈥�
Stein also seemed to have been particularly motivated by the death of Robert 鈥淟aVoy鈥� Finicum, the spokesman for the antigovernment occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge earlier this year. Police shot and killed Finicum as he reached for a pocket containing a handgun after trying to speed past a police road block in January. Since his death, Finicum has become聽a martyr to聽the nationwide聽antigovernment movement.听
