Judge Sets Hearing for Kansas Man Accused in Bomb Plot

A federal judge has set date to hear arguments this month on whether to keep jailed pending trial a Kansas man accused of plotting to attack Somali immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren scheduled a Feb. 24 hearing for Patrick Stein, whom prosecutors say was the leader of a militia group called “The Crusaders.”

The move comes a day after his attorney asked for a review an earlier detention order.

In October, U.S. Magistrate Gwynne Birzer found he poses “a grave danger” to the community.

Prosecutors allege Stein and co-defendants Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen plotted to detonate truck bombs at an apartment complex where 120 Somali immigrants live in the meatpacking town of Garden City.

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