Kansas ‘militia’ men charged with bomb plot wanted to ‘kill as many Muslims as they could’

Court hears defendants wanted to 'plant the message that Muslims are not welcomed'

Curtis Allen, Gavin Wrigh tand Patrick Eugene Stein have been charged with plotting to bomb an block of flats. (REUTERS)

Three men plotted for months to bomb a block of flats that was home to Somali immigrants, a court heard.

Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright and Patrick Eugene Stein intended to detonate trucks at each corner of the complex in Garden City, Kansas, which also contained a mosque, prosecutor Risa Berkower said.

She added that they planned to “kill as many Muslims as they could” and wanted to “plant the message that Muslims are not welcomed”.

The men were members of the Kansas Security Force, described as a militia group in court, but had formed a splinter group called “the Crusaders”, Ms Berkower told the federal court in Wichita, Kansas.

She said the defendants had attempted to recruit other militia members for the plot but had been unsuccessful.

One of the men approached tipped off law enforcement about the plan and later agreed to wear a wire as a paid informant, she said.

Officials investigated the plot for months, recording the men referring to the Somalis as “cockroaches”, the court heard.

“The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim," Mr Stein was allegedly heard saying during a recorded conversation. “If you're a Muslim, I'm going to enjoy shooting you in the head.”

The men allegedly stockpiled weapons and explosives and kept the apartment complex under surveillance.

All three deny conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiring to deny others’ civil rights. They face life in prison if convicted.

Stein also faces an additional weapons-related charge and Wright faces a charge of lying to the FBI.