{"id":31919,"date":"2019-05-07T20:46:19","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T20:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/07\/release-terms-set-for-coast-guard-officer-called-terrorist\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:25:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:25:35","slug":"release-terms-set-for-coast-guard-officer-called-terrorist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/05\/07\/release-terms-set-for-coast-guard-officer-called-terrorist\/","title":{"rendered":"Release terms set for Coast Guard officer called \u2018terrorist\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GREENBELT, Md. \u2014 A Coast Guard lieutenant accused of stockpiling firearms and drafting a hit list<\/a> of prominent Democrats and journalists can be released from custody and supervised by relatives<\/a> in Virginia while awaiting trial, a federal magistrate judge said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Day stopped short of ordering 50-year-old Christopher Hasson\u2019s immediate release after a hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland. The magistrate is giving prosecutors time to appeal his decision to a district court judge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day said Hasson must be subject to 24-hour home detention at one of two Virginia homes: either his mother-in-law\u2019s rental home or a house owned by his father-in-law. The magistrate also agreed to using global positioning equipment to monitor Hasson. Court officials in Virginia must inspect the two homes and set up the monitoring equipment before Hasson can be released. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors have portrayed Hasson as a domestic terrorist and a racist extremist intent on carrying out massive killings<\/a>. Hasson\u2019s attorney says prosecutors haven\u2019t filed terrorism-related charges since his Feb. 15 arrest because they haven\u2019t found any evidence to back up those allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day said during a hearing last month that Hasson is entitled to be freed pending trial on firearms and drug charges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense attorney Liz Oyer proposed several pretrial release options for Day to consider during Hasson\u2019s detention hearing, the third since his arrest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal prosecutors oppose Hasson\u2019s release under any conditions. Their appeal likely keeps Hasson detained pending a district court judge\u2019s review of the matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Government continues to believe that the defendant poses a serious danger and must be detained pending trial,\u201d Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom wrote in a court filing Sunday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasson is a self-described white nationalist who espoused extremist views for years and \u201cintends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country,\u201d Windom wrote in a previous court filing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors said Hasson compiled what appeared to be a computer-spreadsheet hit list that included Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris. Also mentioned were such figures as MSNBC\u2019s Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough and CNN\u2019s Chris Cuomo and Van Jones. Prosecutors also say Hasson targeted two Supreme Court justices and two social media company executives and searched online for their home addresses in March 2018, within minutes before and after searching firearm sales websites. <\/p>\n\n\n\t