Five members of a militia in Michigan arrested and charged in March with seditious conspiracy have lost their bid to be freed on bail. A federal appeals court Tuesday reversed a lower court judgment in May that the five – who belonged to the Hutaree militia – should be allowed bail. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote that “each defendant poses a danger to the community and that no conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of the community.”

David Stone, Joshua Stone, Joshua Clough, Michael Meeks and Thomas Piatek are also charged with attempted use of weapons of mass destruction. All have pleaded not guilty. During an eighteen-month investigation authorities allege militia members discussed killing law enforcement personnel by first  killing a single officer and then attacking the funeral with improvised explosive devices. The appeals court described the plot as “heinous.”

But the three-judge Appeals Court panel in Cincinnati, Ohio  was not united in deciding that all five men posed a danger to their community. One judge argued that Clough should be released on bail and Piatek’s case should be reexamined.