The U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant whom authorities arrested last week on suspicion of domestic terrorism kept a hit list filled with prominent Democratic politicians and mainstream media members, according to prosecutors.
Christopher Paul Hasson, 49, is from Silver Springs in Maryland. He works at the Coast Guard’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
He is a white supremacist and has held extremist views for years, prosecutors say.
“The defendant is a domestic terrorist, bent on committing acts dangerous to human life that are intended to affect governmental conduct,” prosecutors wrote in court documents filed on Tuesday.
Hasson reportedly was “dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth,” the court papers chillingly revealed. He sought to establish a “white homeland” and had stockpiled 15 firearms, ammunition and more than 30 bottles of human growth hormones.
“An active duty Coast Guard member, stationed at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, DC, was arrested last week on illegal weapons and drug charges as a result of an ongoing investigation led by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, in cooperation with the FBI and Department of Justice,” Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Barry Lane said in a statement.
“Because this is an open investigation, the Coast Guard has no further details at this time,” Lane added, noting that Hasson’s arrest stemmed from the Coast Guard’s own internal investigation.
Coast Guard officer accused of stockpiling weapons, planning domestic terrorism denied bail https://t.co/yIo7WwCzoV pic.twitter.com/UHERdrecAj
— The Hill (@thehill) February 21, 2019
#BREAKING: Federal judge in Md. orders Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Hasson detained for 14 more days. Accused ‘domestic terrorist’ had large cache of firearms and drugs, and an apparent hit list of Democrats and MSNBC, CNN anchors. https://t.co/IrrDxrrwnt pic.twitter.com/AXDf4w7ctW
— ABC 7 News – WJLA (@ABC7News) February 21, 2019
Norwegian extremist Anders Breivik, who was convicted in 2012 on terrorism charges for killing 77 people in two attacks, reportedly inspired Hasson.
Prosecutors revealed that Hasson created what appears to be a hit list that includes the names of prominent media members from CNN and MSNBC, as well as Democratic lawmakers.
Names on the list included congressional leaders such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) (pictured above left), as well as 2020 Democratic president hopefuls like Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) (above right), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Related: Reacting to Suspect’s Arrest, Mainstream Media Rip into Trump
Other political figures on the list included Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas).
CNN’s Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo and Van Jones found themselves on the list, as did MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough (above center), Chris Hayes and Ari Melber.
It didn’t take long for mainstream media members and liberals to tie President Donald Trump to Hasson’s actions because Trump has criticized many of the hit-list targets.
Many of these critics also partially blamed the president for the actions of Cesar Sayoc, 56, whom authorities arrested in October for sending a string of suspicious packages to prominent Democrats and CNN’s New York bureau.
Sayoc supported the president and had attended Trump rallies.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-hosts — including Scarborough — connected Hasson’s domestic terrorism plots to Trump and his “enemy of the people” rhetoric used to describe media members biased against him on Thursday.
“Donald Trump has been warned repeatedly that talking about enemies of the people is a Stalinist phrase, that it will encourage some of his more unhinged followers,” Scarborough said.
“We’ve all known that Donald Trump and his words and his attacks about ‘enemies of the people’ would lead to this type of behavior,” Scarborough said. “This is now the second time that we know about, from the pipe bombs to yesterday, but yesterday was obviously far more specific, far more dangerous. And know that is exactly what Donald Trump is encouraging.”
Hasson’s charges include illegal possession of firearms and possession of a controlled substance. His detention hearing occurred on Thursday.
He reportedly served in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years before joining the Army National Guard for two years.
Hasson began working at the D.C. Coast Guard headquarters in 2016.
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