Defense attorneys for two of the men charged in an alleged bomb plot in western Kansas argued their clients were manipulated by the FBI into remaining part of the conspiracy.

Cross examination of Dan Day, the paid FBI informant in the case, wrapped up Wednesday, with the defense asking him why he didn’t put a stop to the plot earlier when he had the chance.

Day recorded hundreds of hours of meetings and phone calls with Curtis Allen, Patrick Stein and Gavin Wright. Prosecutors say the three men planned to attack Somali Muslim immigrants in Garden City in November 2016, going so far as to pick a target and gather materials for a bomb.

All three have pleaded not guilty.

Day testified earlier in the trial in Wichita’s federal courthouse that he maintained a “persona” as a member of the Kansas Security Force — a militia the men belonged to — but wasn’t working to further the plan.

James Pratt, Stein’s attorney, argued Day went out of bounds. He pointed to a recorded phone call in early September when Stein expresses frustration with the planning process and suggests backing out of the plan; Day urges him to stay.

“You were doing everything you could,” Pratt said Wednesday, “to make sure the defendants stayed together and worked toward your goal.”

Day responded he was trying to prevent any of the members from leaving and potentially doing “their own thing,” without the FBI knowing about it.

“What if they wanted to go off and do nothing?” Pratt asked. “You weren’t working toward that end, were you? You were working toward them doing something.”

Wright’s attorney, Kari Schmidt, distanced her client from the rest of the group entirely, pointing out that he was absent from several key events included in Day’s testimony, including recruiting meetings.

Though Wright’s business, G&G Home Center in Liberal, was frequently used as a meeting place, Schmidt says Wright was often busy answering the phone, or wasn’t participating in conversations regarding the alleged plot.

“All we know from those recordings is that you were there,” she told Day.

Schmidt played a phone call between Wright and Day from Oct. 11, the day Allen was arrested on domestic abuse charges. During the call, Wright says he is quitting the plan.

“I don’t need to be involved in this,” he says. “I want to be part of changing this country constitutionally, but I don’t want to be involved in that.”

Still, countered federal prosecutor Risa Berkower, Wright did sign on to the plan.

“When you discussed blowing up the Mary Street building,” she asked Day, “did Gavin Wright say ‘No, no, no,’ or, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’?”

Day said that unlike other militia members who were aware of the plan, Wright was working to execute it.

Day said it was Allen’s unexpected arrest that eventually put an end to the planning; his ex-girlfriend told law enforcement she thought the men were making explosives, and soon after Wright and Stein were also arrested.

“If that hadn’t happened, they would have built a bomb and blown up the building,” he said.



Nadya Faulx is a reporter for KMUW and the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio, KCUR and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. Follow her on Twitter @NadyaFaulx. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.



To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

</s>An FBI informant’s account of the investigation into an alleged bomb plot in western Kansas was called into question Tuesday.

Defense attorneys in the ongoing trial in Wichita’s federal courthouse had the chance to cross-examine Dan Day after two days of direct testimony. Day worked as an informant for the FBI for several months in 2016 as agents investigated Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen. The three men are accused of planning an attack on an apartment complex and mosque in Garden City.

As an informant, Day posed as a member of the Kansas Security Force militia. He recorded hundreds of hours of phone calls and meetings with the defendants at G&G Home Center, the business owned by Wright.

Day told prosecutors that by mid-September, a few weeks before their arrests, the men had all the materials they needed to make an explosive. The state is arguing the men were preparing to take action to carry out the attack.

But Allen’s attorney insists there was never a bomb.

“You said they had a bomb ready, put together and ready to set off?” Melody Brannon asked Day.

“They said they had everything they needed to do it,” Day responded.

“That’s different than having a bomb ready,” Brannon said.

Questioned further, Day said he never saw any equipment, except for the mortar and pestle he had provided.

Day was also unclear on what kind of bomb the men had planned to make and didn’t know what ingredients it would need. A sergeant with the Liberal Police Department testified a hotplate magnetic stirrer was found in Wright’s pickup as police executed a search warrant, but he couldn’t say with certainty whom the item belonged to, or who had put it in the truck.

Brannon acknowledged her client was “seriously worried” about the federal government, Islamic law and the upcoming election 2016 presidential election.

“In the end, though, Mr. Day, there was never any bomb at G&G, was there?” she said.

Attorneys for the three defendants have argued that Day is less a hero and more of a paid bounty hunter working for the FBI.

Day first came into contact with the FBI in July 2015, several months before he met the defendants. Shortly after, he joined a militia known as the Three Percenters. It was his choice to join, he said, but the FBI “asked me to follow them, and I agreed.”

James Pratt, an attorney for Stein, said Day had been providing the FBI information “for a while before they, for lack of a better word, ‘signed you up’ as an informant.”

Pratt provided as evidence a contract signed in October 2015, when Day formally became a paid informant while also serving as the militia group’s vetting officer. Day said he agreed to become an informant because he was concerned with extremists in the organization.

The defense will continue to cross-examine Day on Wednesday.

Nadya Faulx is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. Follow her on Twitter @NadyaFaulx.</s>The U.S. Marshals Office in Kansas arrested Kansas State Wildcats guard Amaad Wainright.</s>KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a three deaths at a Kansas City, Kansas, duplex.

Police Officer Patrick McCallop said officers found the bodies Thursday morning. The discovery was made after a woman told police she came to the house and saw someone who appeared to be dead.

McCallop says all the victims were black males.

The names of the victims and how they died weren’t immediately released.</s>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man who was released from jail after two juries couldn’t convict him in a 2015 Kansas killing is now charged with a homicide in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jackson County authorities announced Wednesday that 30-year-old Antoine Fiedler was charged with first-degree murder in the December death of Rosemarie Harmon. He’s also charged in the shooting of a male friend of Harmon’s.

Fielder was released from the Wyandotte County (Kansas) jail after a second mistrial last July in the shooting death of 22-year-old Kelsey Ewonus, of Overland Park. Two juries couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in the case. The murder charge was dropped in September.

The Kansas City Star reports Fielder was back in the Wyandotte County Jail Jan. 3, facing charges in other cases including a robbery and alleged carjacking.</s>A man who was released from jail after two juries couldn't convict him in a 2015 Kansas killing is now charged with a homicide in Kansas City, MO.</s>KANSAS CITY, Mo. — U.S. Marshals arrested Kansas State basketball player Amaad Wainright on Monday, officials say.

The junior guard originally from KCMO was arrested on a warrant out of Johnson County, Kansas, the U.S. Marshal’s Office confirmed.

Overland Park Police spokesman John Lacy confirmed to FOX4 that Wainright’s arrest is in connection to a road rage shooting on Interstate 435.

FOX4 will update this story as more details are confirmed.
Lawyers representing two of the three defendants in a Kansas case alleging a Christian extremist plot to bomb a mosque tell jurors the FBI manipulated and encouraged the actions of the accused.