Coast Guard officer who drafted hit list pleads guilty to drug and weapons charges
Greenbelt, Maryland — A Coast Guard lieutenant who prosecutors said compiled a hit list of prominent Democratic leaders and media personalities pleaded guilty to four felony counts of drug and weapons-related charges in federal court here Thursday. He faces up to 31 years in prison.
Christopher Hasson, who identified as a "long time White Nationalist" in emails obtained by prosecutors, had initially entered a plea of not guilty, but shifted legal strategy after a series of setbacks in court last month.
U.S. District Judge George Hazel accepted the guilty plea in court on Thursday, as Hasson's wife looked on.
Hasson, 50, worked as an acquisitions officer and was arrested at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington in February. Investigators said they found 15 firearms, two homemade silencers and more 1,000 rounds of ammunition in his Maryland home, as well as at least 100 pills of the painkiller Tramadol and more than 30 bottles of purported human growth hormone.
Inspired by the manifesto of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, Hasson spent hours researching the tactics of domestic terrorists, prosecutors said. "I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on earth," he wrote on his computer, saying he would "have to take serious look at appropriate individual targets, to bring the greatest impact."
Among the targets on a list found on Hasson's computer were Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes and Democratic Senator Kamala Harris. Prosecutors wrote that the former Marine considered them "traitors."
Hasson was not charged with terrorism-related offenses, but his "extremist views" contributed to Hazel's decision to detain him throughout the legal proceedings. Hazel determined in a May detention hearing that the evidence indicated Hasson took "concrete steps" to carry out a violent act.
In court Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom indicated the government may seek the maximum sentence of up to 31 years in prison at sentencing. Hasson's attorney, Elizabeth Oyer, said she intends to seek a 3.5-year sentence for her client. Hazel set a sentencing date of January 31, 2020.