Judge rules men in bomb plot trial 'can't have Trump voters on jury'

Three men accused of a bomb plot targeting a mosque have had their request for jurors from Trump voting areas rejected.

Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen are accused of plotting to detonate bombs in Garden City, Kansas, targeting apartments housing Somali refugees and a mosque.

They are being tried in Wichita, from where the jurors will be selected, 220 miles away from the more rural Garden City.

The trio had argued that the jury selection process was unfair, because it ruled out the more western, rural and conservative counties.

The lawyers for the defendants claimed that the rural counties should be included because those living there were twice as likely to have voted for Donald Trump.

This is considered important because the jury will have to rule on whether the men's conduct was a crime, or falls under the right to bear arms, and freedom of speech and assembly.

According to The Kansas City Star, the defence motion stated: "This case is uniquely political because much of the anticipated evidence will centre around, and was in reaction to, the 2016 presidential election."

It added that liberal and conservative voters differed on "the appropriate size and power of the federal government and the individual rights of its citizens".

But district judge Eric Melgren ruled the demographic differences between counties were not legally recognisable and it would not violate the men's right to a fair trial.

The jury will be chosen from a cross-section of the community, he said.

He added there is no evidence to support the "bare assertion" that the citizens in each area held fundamentally different views, and that including prospective jurors from the sparsely populated rural regions would only boost the number of registered Republicans in the pool by 2.37%.

Mr Melgren said this was "entirely insufficient to show political discrimination".

Prosecutors in the case had opposed the request, arguing the men's defence lawyers were trying to pick a jury based on ideology, and the practise could open a "dangerous door" to other cases.

The three men are charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy against civil rights. Wright also is accused of lying to the FBI.

Prosecutors allege they were part of a militia group.

All three have pleaded not guilty.