Judge Rules Somalis Can Testify in Bomb Plot Case

(AP) – A federal judge has ruled that Somali immigrants can testify at the sentencing of three militia members convicted of plotting to bomb their Kansas apartment complex.

The decision Tuesday is a blow to the efforts by defense attorneys to block 20 short videos of testimony that prosecutors want to play at the men’s Jan. 25 sentencing hearings.

Attorneys for Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen contend that the Somalis aren’t victims because no one was hurt.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren ruled that the intended victims are entitled to have their statements heard.

The defendants were convicted of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiring to violate civil rights. Wright was also convicted of lying to the FBI.