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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 31 OctOber 2018

Kansas militia men blame Trump's rhetoric

for planned attack

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — At-
torneys for Kansas militia
members who conspired
to bomb a mosque and
apartment complex hous-
ing Somali immigrants have
asked the court to take
into account at a sentenc-
ing hearing next month
what they called President
Donald Trump's rhetoric en-
couraging violence.
One has asked the judge This combination of Oct. 14, 2016, file booking photos provided by the Sedgwick County Sheriff's
Office in Wichita, Kan., shows from left, Patrick Stein, Curtis Allen and Gavin Wright, three members
to also consider the fact of a Kansas militia group who were charged with plotting to bomb an apartment building filled
that all three men read and with Somali immigrants in Garden City, Kan.
shared Russian propagan- Associated Press
da on their Facebook feed
designed to sow discord in that violence against the who is now our president," evaluating the likelihood of
the U.S. political system. government or any person according to a sentenc- an actual attack, they said.
A federal jury convicted will not be tolerated. ing memorandum written Trump's win "changed ev-
Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright But defense attorneys in by attorneys representing erything" because the
and Curtis Allen of one court filings Monday and Stein. men's the urgency for ac-
count of conspiracy to use Tuesday sought to human- His attorneys said Trump's tion and the feeling of a los-
a weapon of mass destruc- ize their clients and spread "rough-and-tumble ver- ing battle would be gone,
tion and one count of con- some of the blame. bal pummeling" height- they argued. Conspiracies
spiracy against civil rights "The court cannot ignore ened the rhetorical stakes — among them that then
in April. Wright was also the circumstances of one for people of all political President Barack Obama
found guilty of lying to the of the most rhetorically persuasions. Stein was an would not relinquish power
FBI. The attack, planned for mold-breaking, violent, early and avid supporter — would be disproven. He
the day after the 2016 gen- awful, hateful and conten- for Trump, and his connec- contended the discussed
eral election, was thwarted tious presidential elections tion to Trump was "so com- attack likely would never
by another member of the in modern history, driven plete and long-standing" have happened in the
group who tipped off au- in large measure by the that Trump's surprising win world that existed after
thorities about escalating rhetorical China shop bull cannot be ignored when Trump's election.q
threats of violence.
U.S. District Judge Eric Mel-
gren will consider at their
sentencing on Nov. 19 and
20 how much time each
man will spend in prison.
Conspiracy to use a weap-
on of mass destruction car-
ries a possible maximum
sentence of life imprison-
ment, while the sentence
for the civil rights violation
carries no more than 10
years. The sentencing had
previously been scheduled
for Friday.
Prosecutors are seeking life
terms for all three, while
defense attorneys are vari-
ously pleading for shorter
terms of 15, 10 or even time
served.
The government pointed
to the seriousness of the
offense, which it says con-
tinues to have "a deep,
lasting impact on the vic-
tims' sense of security in
their homes and at their
mosque. It also wanted to
ensure the men can never
threaten the safety of the
public again. And it ar-
gued for the need to send
a strong deterrent message