Three members of a Kansas militia known as the Crusaders have been arrested for plotting to blow up an apartment complex in the western Kansas town of Garden City. The apartment complex is home to many Somali refugees and houses a mosque. All three militia members were white men in their late forties. According to the FBI, the militia supported anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-government beliefs. Tom Beall is the acting U.S. attorney in Kansas.

Tom Beall: “It’s alleged the defendants conducted surveillance to size up potential targets. They stockpiled firearms, ammunition and explosive components. They even prepared a manifesto describing their beliefs, to be published after the bombing. These charges are based on eight months of investigation by the FBI that is alleged to have taken the investigators deep into a hidden culture of hatred and violence. Many Kansans may find it as startling as I have that such things could happen here.”

The FBI, which had an undercover agent in the militia, said the men were planning to carry out the attack on November 9, one day after the presidential election. Local Somali residents responded with shock to the arrests.

Abdulkadir Mohamed: “I’m here in the United States like 15 years now. I never meet any problem, except today, when I heard this information. And it makes me shocked and scared.”