U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant accused of amassing hit list of Democrats, media figures

A U.S. coast guard officer suspected of drawing up a hit list of top Democrats and network TV journalists spent hours on his work computer researching the words and deeds of infamous bombers and mass shooters while also stockpiling weapons, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson, 49, was ordered held without bail on drug and gun charges while prosecutors gather evidence to support more serious charges involving what they portrayed as a domestic terror plot by a man who espoused white-supremacist views.

"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 papers.

Federal Magistrate Judge Charles Day saidhe might be willing to reconsider his bail decision later if the government hasn't charged Hasson with more serious crimes in the next two weeks.

Pondered how to acquire anthrax

In arguing against bail Thursday, federal prosecutor Jennifer Sykes said Hasson would log onto his government computer during work hours and spend hours searching for information on such people as the Unabomber, the Virginia Tech gunman and anti-abortion bomber Eric Rudolph.

"This is not an isolated activity," Sykes said, referring to evidence disclosed so far. "This is something that is being done for hours on end while he is at work."

Hasson, who works at the U.S. Coast Guard's headquarters in Washington, has espoused extremist views for years, according to prosecutors. Court papers detail a June 2017 draft email in which Hasson wrote that he was "dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth," and pondering how he might be able to acquire anthrax and toxins to create botulism or a deadly influenza.

In the same email, Hasson described an "interesting idea" that included "biological attacks followed by attack on food supply" as well as a bombing and sniper attacks, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.

Prosecutors allege that Hasson visited thousands of websites that sold guns and researched military tactical manuals on improvised munitions.

Federal agents found 15 firearms including several rifles and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition inside Hasson's basement apartment in Silver Spring, Md. They also found a container with more than 30 bottles that were labelled as human growth hormone, court papers said.

Prosecution trying to 'criminalize thoughts'

Prosecutors wrote that Hasson "began the process of targeting specific victims," including several prominent Democrats in Congress and 2020 presidential candidates. In February 2018, he searched the internet for the "most liberal senators," as well as searching "do senators have ss [secret service] protection" and "are supreme court justices protected," according to the court filing.

Hasson's list of prominent Democrats included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and four senators who are presidential hopefuls Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.

The list created in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet also included mentions of John Podesta, who was Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, along with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Maxine Waters, former congressman and potential presidential contender Beto O'Rourke, MSNBC's Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough and CNN's Chris Cuomo and Van Jones, according to the court filing.

But in court, public defender Julie Stelzig accused prosecutors of making inflammatory accusations against her client without providing the evidence to back them up. She also accused the government of trying to "criminalize thoughts" and perhaps make an example out of Hasson, given criticism that authorities have overlooked domestic terrorists. "Perhaps now they can say, 'Look, we're not targeting only Muslims,"' she said.

Referred to himself as 'White Nationalist'

In September 2017, Hasson sent himself a draft letter that he had written to a neo-Nazi leader and "identified himself as a White Nationalist for over 30 years and advocated for 'focused violence' in order to establish a white homeland," prosecutors wrote.

Hasson routinely read portions of a manifesto written by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik that prosecutors said instructs would-be assailants to collect firearms, food, disguises and survival tools, court papers said. Breivik, a right-wing extremist, is serving a 21-year sentence for killing 77 people in a 2011 bomb and shooting rampage.

Hasson also expressed admiration for Russia. "Looking to Russia with hopeful eyes or any land that despises the west's liberalism," he wrote in the draft email. Prosecutors say during the past two years he had regularly searched online for pro-Russian as well as neo-Nazi literature.

Hasson appeared to be a chronic user of the opioid painkiller Tramadol and had purchased a flask filled with four ounces of "synthetic urine" online, prosecutors said. Authorities suspect Hasson had purchased fake urine to use in case he was randomly selected for a drug test.

Hasson's arrest on Feb. 15 was first noted by Seamus Hughes, the deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

Bob Davis, who rents a house from Hasson in coastal Currituck County, N.C., and met him a few times, said he was "absolutely shocked" by the allegations.

"He was a very stern military guy. That's how I saw him. I truly nothing but respected him. There are people in life who are not 100 percenters. He was a 100 percenter," Davis said, meaning Hasson worked hard and didn't slack off. "He portrayed in a very professional manner. He was honourable.... He was a good man."

Hasson was previously an aircraft mechanic in the Marines, serving from 1988 to 1994.