{"id":24041,"date":"2019-02-21T01:13:44","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T01:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/21\/prosecutors-coast-guard-officer-plotted-to-murder-innocent-civilians\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:21:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:21:04","slug":"prosecutors-coast-guard-officer-plotted-to-murder-innocent-civilians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/21\/prosecutors-coast-guard-officer-plotted-to-murder-innocent-civilians\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors: Coast Guard officer plotted to \u2018murder innocent civilians\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A U.S. Coast Guard<\/a> officer is a self-proclaimed white supremacist who drafted a hit list of prominent Democrats and media personalities, part of a plot to \u201cmurder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country,\u201d federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson was arrested Feb. 15 on firearm and opioid possession charges, but a filing Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland warns that those alleged violations \u201care the proverbial tip of the iceberg.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe defendant is a domestic terrorist, bent on committing acts dangerous to human life,\u201d prosecutors wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasson, an acquisitions officer for the service\u2019s National Security Cutter<\/a> program, previously served in the Marine Corps and Army National Guard from 1988 to 1993, according a filing that seeks to keep him behind bars until his criminal trial concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, Hasson, 49, has been in custody since his arrest last week and a detention hearing is scheduled for Thursday, according to Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coast Guard officials declined to comment on Hasson\u2019s duties or current status Wednesday, citing the ongoing federal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an email to Navy Times, Coast Guard spokesman Chief Warrant Officer Barry Lane said that Hasson was the target of an ongoing probe by the Coast Guard Investigative Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An earlier filing in Hasson\u2019s case indicates that he filled out an SF-86 form<\/a> in 2016, when he began working at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. That\u2019s a questionnaire required for everyone who seeks national security clearance but the court documents don\u2019t state which level of clearance he held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A federal magistrate assigned a public defender to Hasson\u2019s case on Feb. 15. Calls to the office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland<\/a> were not returned by deadline Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasson conducted online searches for pro-Russian, neo-fascist and neo-Nazi literature between 2017 and 2019, and took inspiration from the manifesto of Anders Breivik, a far right-wing domestic terrorist who killed 77 people \u2014 mostly children \u2014 in two coordinated attacks in Norway in 2011, according to the filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breivik\u2019s manifesto provides \u201ca blueprint for future single cell or \u2018Lone Wolf\u2019 terrorist operations,\u201d the filing states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors, however, did not specify a date for when Hasson allegedly planned to kick off the massacre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consistent with Breivik\u2019s manifesto, Hasson \u201cbegan the process of targeting specific victims, including current and former elected officials\u201d in January, according to the filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasson\u2019s online activity since January 2017 showed him condutcing internet searches for phrases such as, \u201cmost liberal senators,\u201d \u201cwhere do most senators live in dc,\u201d \u201cdo senators have ss [secret service] protection\u201d and \u201care supreme court justices protected,\u201d the filing states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also searched for MSNBC host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough \u201cafter viewing a headline claiming that Scarborough referred to the President as \u2018the worst ever,\u2019\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter further searches, the defendant found Scarborough\u2019s prior home, and then proceeded to scroll in and out on the location for approximately 35 seconds,\u201d the filing states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors contend that on Jan. 17, Hasson also \u201ccompiled a list of prominent Democratic Congressional leaders, activists, political organizations, and MSNBC and CNN media personalities,\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasson\u2019s hit allegedly included \u201cgillibran\u201d \u2014 prosecutors say it\u2019s presumably U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York \u2014 as well as \u201cpoca warren,\u201d perhaps Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, plus \u201cSen blumen jew,\u201d a slur for Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, among others, according to the filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gillibrand and Warren are seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasson allegedly “developed this list in the above spreadsheet while reviewing the MSNBC, CNN, and FOX News websites\u2026from his work computer,\u201d the filing states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prosecutors alleged in a court filing this week that Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson compiled list of Democratic party leaders and TV media personalities, and that it was consistent with the types of people who would be considered targets in a right-wing terrorist manifesto Hasson regularly read. (U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same day he made the list, prosecutors say Hasson used the search engine Google for the following phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n