Domestic terrorism3 Kansas men arrested for plotting massive attack on a complex housing Somali refugees

The Garden City, Kansas police on Friday arrested three members of a far-right militia group for plotting to bomb an apartment complex in Garden City, in which about 120 Somali refugees live.

The complex also houses a mosque.

Federal prosecutors charge the three men — Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright, and Patrick Stein — with domestic terrorism, after the FBI carried out an eight-month investigation into a group known as “the Crusaders.” Investigators said that members of the group adhere to “sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant extremist beliefs.”

Slate reportsthat the three men have stockpiled nearly 2,000 pounds of firearms and explosives in preparation for a 9 November attack on the complex. The men have also written a declaration which was to be released after the bombings.

“They chose the target location based on their hatred of these groups, their perception that these groups represent a threat to American society, a desire to inspire other militia groups, and a desire to “wake people up’,” reads the federal complaint.

Observers say that this is the first incident in recent U.S. history of a terror plot aimed at refugees. The Wall Street Journal notes that it comes about a month after the Obama administration that it would increase the number of refugees – all refugees, not only Syrians — admitted this fiscal year from 85,000 to 110,000.

CNN reports that the administration had said that the United States would reach the target of welcoming 10,000 refugees from Syria by 1 October – which is ahead of schedule.

Republican lawmakers and governors have raised security concerns about admitting refugees, warning that incomplete vetting of refugees may allow members of ISIS and other extremist groups to enter the country and stage attacks. Supporters of far-right nationalist ideology – sometime referred to as “alt-right” – have been using an apocalyptic language, which has been adopted by Donald Trump, describing the refugee program as an “invasion” of the country which amounts to “national suicide” for the United States.

Most refugees are settled in small towns, where the cost of living is lower and where there is less coverage by the national media – but where their presence is more noticeable to local residents.