Washington, Feb 20 (EFE) .- US authorities arrested a lieutenant of the Coast Guard, who intervened an arsenal, as suspected of planning a widespread attack against politicians and civilians, the government reported today.
The lieutenant, identified as Christopher Paul Hasson, 49, defined himself as a “white nationalist” and, according to the authorities, “intended to kill civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.”
Therefore, prosecutors define Hasson in his indictment as a “national terrorist,” according to The Washington Post, who had access to the government’s judicial documents.
Among his alleged targets were the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi, as well as the popular leftist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in addition to civilians and journalists.
According to court documents filed in a federal court in the state of Maryland, Hasson advocated the use of “targeted violence” to establish the “white homeland” and in a drafted email he wrote “I am dreaming of a way to kill every last person on earth,”
He also fantasized about a biological attack on food and a “bomb / sniper campaign”.
Hasson, arrested last Friday, had recently searched the Internet for “best places in DC (District of Columbia) to see people in Congress” or “are Supreme Court justices protected?”
Although Hasson was accumulating weapons since 2017, it is not clear when he planned to take action.
In his home in Silver Spring (Washington suburb located in Maryland), the authorities found a large number of weapons and also narcotics.
According to the researchers, Hasson was studying the manifesto of the Norwegian far right Anders Behring Breivik, which in 2011 killed 77 people. They also indicate that he was obsessed with neo-fascist and neo-Nazi ideology.
Hasson served in the Marine Corps between 1988 and 1993 and then in the National Guard for another two years. Since 2016 he worked as a lieutenant of the US Coast Guard. at its headquarters in Washington.
In a detention hearing Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Day ordered Hasson held without bond at the prosecution’s request.
However, Day gave the government 14 days to present more serious charges against Hasson. If it fails to do so, Day said he would entertain a defense motion for release.
Hasson faces a misdemeanor drug charge and a felony weapons possession charge related to illegal drug use.
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