Kansas Crusaders Face Possible Life Sentences

Photo by Jim Purcell

Three Kansas men were arrested on Federal charges.

FOLLOW-UP REPORT

By JIM PURCELL

According to the United States Justice Department Office of Public Affairs, three Kansas men, Curtis Allen and Gavin Wright, both 49, and Patrick Eugene Stein, 47, could face a charge of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives), as it involved an alleged plot to detonate explosions outside of an apartment complex in Garden City, Kansas. Reportedly, a number of Somali and Muslim immigrants live and worship very nearby.

The prosecutors for the case, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall of the District of Kansas, are bringing the matter to court for the state.

Carlin said the charges are based on an eight-month-long investigation into the group that Allen, Wright and Stein belong to, which is known as the "Crusaders."

Beall stated that this could very well be a matter of ferreting out domestic terrorists. He noted, "Protecting our nation from such attacks, whether they are rooted in domestic or international terrorism, is our highest priority."

According to the criminal complaint against the three Crusaders, the group conducted surveillance "to identify potential targets, stockpiled firearms, ammunition and explosive components, and planned to issue a manifesto in conjunction with the planned bombing."

If convicted of all charges, the men face a maximum sentence of life in prison within the Federal Prison System.

Investigating agencies included: the FBI, Liberal Police Department, the Seward County Sheriff's Office, the Ford County Sheriff's Office, the Dodge City Police Department, the Finney County Sheriff's Officer and the Kansas Highway Patrol, among others.

Kansas Crusaders taken in on alleged terrorism charges

FIRST REPORT

By JIM PURCELL

Two out of three members of the "Crusaders" militia group, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen, have been taken into custody by Kansas police after they reportedly began planning the placement of car bombs outside a Somali-Muslim enclave of Garden City, Kansas.

Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen have been arrested in Kansas.

In an Oct. 16, 2016 published report by Cleve R. Wootson, a staffer for The Washington Post, the two Crusaders sought to embolden other domestic groups to action against Muslim immigrants. "The only f----- way this country's ever going to get turned around is it will be a blood and it will be a nasty, messy mother-----," Stein reportedly said.

The suspects in the case had reportedly begun to recon the proposed bombing site regularly, hurling insults at local Muslims as they studied the area. Finally, in September, the Federal Government strengthened its case against the pair when an FBI employee posed as a gunrunner and gained Wright and Allen's confidence. In the last discussion with the undercover agent, Stein allegedly told the agent that Allen's girlfriend was being a problem and she "needs to disappear."

The girlfriend stated that Allen had beat her during an argument involving finances. She reportedly told police officers during a previous incident that Allen had access to firearms.