Judge denies release request in Kansas bomb plot case

WICHITA, Kan. – A judge says a Kansas man accused of plotting to attack Somali immigrants poses “a grave danger” to the community if released.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren on Thursday denied Patrick Stein’s request for release. Prosecutors say Stein was the leader of a militia group called The Crusaders.

Melgren says Stein is a flight risk and the evidence against him is significant. The judge also says Stein has expressed extreme hatred and threatened violence against Muslims, and sought to obtain weapons and explosives.

Prosecutors allege Stein and co-defendants Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen conspired to detonate truck bombs at a 100-unit apartment complex where Somali immigrants live in Garden City, Kansas.

The three have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.