Coast Guard lieutenant arrested, accused of planning domestic terrorism

A lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard was arrested after the man accumulated a stash of guns and a political hit list,  according to federal prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Christopher Paul Hasson, a self-proclaimed white nationalist, called for the use of violence to “establish a white homeland” and had a hit list of prominent Democrats, court records showed. 

{mosads}He is due in court on Thursday in Maryland to face gun and drug charges after his arrest last week.

Hasson has allegedly espoused extreme views for years. Court documents say that in June 2017, Hasson described an “interesting idea” in an email draft that included “biological attacks followed by attack on food supply.” 

Hasson was first arrested on gun and drug charges, but prosecutors later filed a motion for Hasson to be detained before his trial.

“The defendant intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country,” they said in court. “He must be detained pending trial.”

At Hasson’s home, law enforcement officials said they found 15 firearms and at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

Officials also said they found a list of politicians and journalists Hasson intended to kill. 

The list allegedly includes Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) were allegedly listed as “poca warren” and “Sen blumen jew,” respectively, according to court documents.

Officials said Hasson wrote a letter to a prominent American neo-Nazi in which he advocated violence and described himself as a “long time White Nationalist” and a “skinhead.”

“I never saw a reason for mass protest or wearing uniforms marching around provoking people with swastikas etc.,” he wrote. “I was and am a man of action you cannot change minds protesting like that. However you can make change with a little focused violence.”

Hasson frequently read parts of a manifesto written by Anders Behring Breivik, a far-right Norwegian domestic terrorist whose attacks killed 77 people, according to prosecutors.

Updated at 6:29