Ex-militia member testifies in Garden City bomb plot trial

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – A former militia officer has testified he left the group following a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub out of concern some of the other members were plotting to attack Somalis in their small Kansas community.

Brody Benson took the stand Monday in the trial of Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen. They’re charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction to detonate truck bombs in Garden City.

Beson testified Stein often talked about Somalis as cockroaches who should be exterminated, which he initially dismissed as “just blowing smoke.”

That changed following a June 2016 meeting after 49 people were killed. He said he became concerned the talk of using explosives was escalating into “actual action.”
Benson said he didn’t want any part of it.