White supremacist in gun, ID theft probe to stay in jail

A judge today ordered a white supremacist and convicted felon charged with unlawfully possessing two assault rifles and a handgun to stay in custody pending trial. Wayde Lynn Kurt, 52, also is suspected of using counterfeit identification cards to obtain a post office box and order merchandise from a gun store. He’s been in Spokane County Jail since his arrest on Monday. Now he’ll stay there without bail after U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno ruled he was a flight risk and a danger to the community because of his history of failing to show up for court and disobeying court orders. Assistant U.S Attorney Earl Hicks described Kurt as a “known white supremacist” and “perpetual criminal” when arguing for Kurt’s detainment Thursday in U.S. District Court. Kurt has fled law enforcement many times and once rammed a police vehicle, then tried escaping federal custody by removing screws from a jail cell window, Hicks said. He’s also one of the few people with a federal conviction for failing to appear in court in the Eastern District of Washington. The arrest is the latest for a convicted currency counterfeiter whose experience with the criminal justice system dates back to at least 1988, when he was acquitted of murder in Snohomish County. He was under investigation for counterfeiting when he removed a government tracking device from his car in 2004, then hid it in a storage unit he’d rented under a fake identification, Hicks said. An FBI agent testified in court Thursday that because of Kurt’s criminal history and penchant for guns, he didn’t give the suspect chance to surrender Monday. “I tackled him, rolled him over, and placed him in the vehicle,” said FBI agent Joseph Cleary. “I did not want him to get in his vehicle and drive away.” Kurt has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of felon in possession of a firearm.