A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant allegedly inspired by Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik planned to “murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country,” prosecutors said in a detention motion filed in the U.S. District Court in Maryland.
Christopher Hasson was arrested on Feb. 15 for possession of a firearm while being an unlawful user or addict of the opioid Tramadol, but those charges “are the proverbial tip of the iceberg,” prosecutors said. “The defendant is a domestic terrorist, bent on committing acts dangerous to human life that are intended to affect governmental conduct.”
His plot included amassing an extensive weapons cache and detailing a list of targets including media figures and lawmakers — referring to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) as “Blumenjew,” according to documents filed in court.
Hasson is due in court Thursday, where prosecutors will argue that he’s too dangerous to be released before trial.
The lieutenant began serving as an acquisitions officer for the National Security Cutter Acquisition Program at Coast Guard headquarters in D.C. on June 7, 2016. He served in the Marine Corps from 1988 to 1993, and spent two years on active duty in the Army National Guard.
In a recovered draft email dated June 2, 2017, Hasson allegedly wrote he was “dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth.”
“I think a plague would be most successful but how do I acquire the needed/ Spanish flu, botulism, anthrax not sure yet but will find something. Interesting idea the other day. Start with biological attacks followed by attack on food supply… Have to research this. Two pronged attack seems it might be more successful. Institute a bombing/sniper campaign,” states the email, according to the court filing.
“Liberalist/globalist ideology is destroying traditional peoples esp white. No way to counteract without violence. It should push for more crack down bringing more people to our side,” the email continues. “Much blood will have to be spilled to get whitey off the couch. For some no amount of blood will be enough. They will die as will the traitors who actively work toward our demise. Looking to Russia with hopeful eyes or any land that despises the west’s liberalism. Excluding of course the muslim scum. Who rightfully despise the west’s liberal degeneracy.”
Hasson allegedly mused about multiple stockpiles and hide locations as well as “appropriate individual targets, to bring greatest impact. Professors, DR’s, Politian’s, Judges, leftists in general.”
“Gun rights people will never rise, need religious to stand up. Please send me your violence that I may unleash it onto their heads. Guide my hate to make a lasting impression on this world. So be it. I don’t know if there truly is a ‘conspiracy’ of ((((People)))) out to destroy me and mine, but there is an attack none the less,” the email continued, using the anti-Semitic triple parentheses used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists online to indicate Jews. “For that reason I will strike, I can’t just strike to wound I must find a way to deliver a blow that cannot be shaken off. Maybe many blows that will cause the needed turmoil.”
In a September 2017 draft letter allegedly written “to a known American neo-Nazi leader,” Hasson states that he has “been a skinhead 30 plus years ago before my time in the military” and talks about the establishment of a “white homeland,” according to court documents.
“I never saw a reason for mass protest or wearing uniforms marching around provoking people with swastikas etc. I was and am a man of action you cannot change minds protesting like that,” he allegedly wrote. “However you can make change with a little focused violence.”
Prosecutors say that from early 2017 until his arrest Hasson “routinely perused” the Breivik manifesto, following the mass killer’s instructions on amassing supplies including steroids, stocking up on firearms and improving his tactical knowledge, and pinpointing targets deemed to be “cultural Marxist/multiculturalist traitors.” Officers found 15 firearms and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition in Hasson’s basement apartment in Silver Spring, Md., court documents detail.
Last February, the court filing says, Hasson searched online for “most liberal senators,” “where do most senators live in dc,” “do senators have ss [secret service] protection,” and “are supreme court justices protected.” On Jan. 17, he’d begun a hit list in an Excel spreadsheet, a screenshot in the court filing shows, that included the names of media personalities Chris Hayes, Van Jones, Chris Cuomo, Don Lemon, Ari Melber and Angela Davis, and lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — referred to as “poco warren.”
“Cortez” was on the list, which could refer to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) or Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.). “Podesta” was also included on the list.
Prosecutors say Hasson searched online the same day for terms including “what if trump illegally impeached,” “best place in dc to see congress people,” “where in dc to congress live,” and “civil war if trump impeached.”
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