Feds Say 3 Suspects in Somali Plot Pose ‘Substantial Danger’

tProsecutors say the three Kansas men accused of conspiring to attack Somali immigrants in Garden City pose a “substantial danger” to the community and should not be released pending trial.

A filing Thursday makes public new details about the plot, the arsenal they had amassed and conversations between the men, an informant, and an undercover agent.

In conversations they regularly call the immigrants “cockroaches,” discuss several places to target, and their plans to do it. That includes testing some explosives material in a sink at G & G Homes in Liberal and a possible detonator found there.

Prosecutors say the defendants “voiced a willingness to rape women of Somali descent and the wife of the landlord of (the Mary Street complex) to send a message of their intolerance and support of violence.”

It also details the men’s criminal history.

Curtis Allen has 2008 convictions for misdemeanor domestic battery and operating a motor vehicle without a license and he didn’t complete a deferred judgment program.

Patrick Stein’s history includes a felony conviction in Ford County for attempted burglary and attempted criminal damage to property and that he violated probation in that case. He had a diversion for passing a bad check.

Both men also failed to appear for court proceedings.

Gavin Wright had no criminal history.

Detention hearings for Stein and Wright are set for Friday. One for Allen is set for Monday.

The state will ask that all the men are held without bond.