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The three men charged Friday were identified as the architects of the attack plan, the FBI complaint said, through a combination of recordings, social-media posts and reporting from the confidential informant.

The group routinely expressed hatred for Muslims, Somalis and immigrants. In one call, Stein is alleged to have said that the country could be turned around only with “a bloodbath.” The individuals said they wanted to “wake people up” and inspire other militia groups to act.

We’re going to talk about killing people and going to prison for life. … We need to be preemptive before something happens

The FBI said that as part of this plot, the men conducted surveillance in Garden City, Kansas, a small city about 200 miles west of Wichita, and other places in southwest Kansas.

At one point, Stein was being driven around by the confidential informant, who told the FBI that Stein shouted at Somali women in traditional garb and cursed at them.

During this surveillance, Stein was armed with an assault rifle, extra magazines, a pistol, a ballistic vest and a night-vision scope, the complaint said.

The three men had been plotting since February “to use a weapon of mass destruction,” according to an FBI complaint made public Friday.

In June, Stein is alleged to have met with members of the Crusaders and brought up the Orlando, Florida, nightclub shooting, which was carried out by a Florida man who pledged loyalty to the Islamic State during the attack.

The FBI said its informant met in July with the three men charged Friday at a business owned by Wright and where Allen worked. They discussed potential targets, at one point marking them on Google Maps, and “brainstormed various methods of attack, including murder, kidnapping, rape, and arson,” the FBI said.