A right-wing, hate-filled 49-year-old U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant has been arrested for planning to slaughter Democratic Party politicians, members of the liberal media from CNN and MSNBC and other civilians with the aim of committing the largest mass murders in U.S. history.
Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson of Silver Spring, Maryland is a white supremacist whose "hit list" included prominent Democratic politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York;' Senators Chuck Schumer of New York; Cory Booker of New Jersey; Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut; Kamala Harris of California and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas.
A former Marine, Hasson also wanted to kill CNN journalists Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo and Van Jones, and MSNBC's Chris Hayes, Ari Melber and Joe Scarborough. It still has to be determined if Hasson's hatred of the Left was stoked by president Donald Trump's relentless attacks on Democrats and the media, whom he keeps calling the enemy of the people.
Law enforcement agents found 15 guns and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition in Hasson's home, according to court documents. Hasson will appear Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland for a hearing.
"The defendant intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," prosecutors wrote in a motion to detain pending trial. Hasson was arrested on illegal weapons and drug charges.
The exact crimes attributed to Hasson include "possession of firearm and ammunition by unlawful user or addict of any controlled substance" and "simple possession of Tramadol, a Schedule IV controlled substance."
Court documents say Hasson promoted extremist and white supremacist views. It said Hason was inspired to plan the mass murders by a manifesto written by Anders Breivik, a Norwegian who killed 77 people in two terror attacks in Norway.
Hasson also stockpiled steroids and human growth hormone "to increase his ability to conduct attacks," consistent with directions written down by Breivik in his manifesto.
"The defendant is a domestic terrorist, bent on committing acts dangerous to human life that are intended to affect governmental conduct," wrote prosecutors.
The Coast Guard said the investigation that led to Hasson's arrest was part of its own probe. In a statement, the Coast Guard said 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. Because this is an open investigation, the Coast Guard has no further details at this time."
In a draft email seized by authorities, Hasson wrote, "I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth." And in another draft email addressed to a known American neo-Nazi leader, Hasson wrote, "We need a white homeland as Europe seems lost."
