This image provided by the U.S. District Court in Maryland shows a photo of firearms and ammunition that was in the motion for detention pending trial in the case against Christopher Paul Hasson. Prosecutors say that Hasson, a Coast Guard lieutenant is a “domestic terrorist” who wrote about biological attacks and had a hit list that included prominent Democrats and media figures. Photo : AP A U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant and self-identified white nationalist is expected to appear before a judge Thursday afternoon on weapons and drugs charges related to a terrorist attack he was plotting. Christopher Paul Hasson, 49, of Silver Spring, Md., is accused of stockpiling weapons and ammunition to attack journalists and politicians. Hasson’s ultimate goal, according to documents seized from his home: to“establish a white homeland.” Advertisement “I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth,” Hasson wrote, according to the Washington Post, which cited court records. The government says Hasson appears to have been planning the attack since 2017, with the weapons and drug charges being just the “proverbial tip of the iceberg.” Among Hasson’s targets were cable news host and former U.S. congressman Joe Scarborough, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), whom Hasson referred to as “Sen blumen jew,” and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-M.A. ), referred to as “poca Warren,” a nickname Hasson appears to have lifted from Donald Trump. CBS Minnesota reports that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-M.N.) was also on the list. Hasson was arrested Friday. Also found in Hasson’s apartment was “ a locked container loaded with more than 30 vials of what appeared to be human growth hormone,” as well as opioid pills, writes the Post. That particular detail is drawn from a Norwegian white supremacist and mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011 during a planned rampage in Norway. According to a separate article from the Post, Breivik—who used explosives and firearms in his brutal attack, prepared a 1,500 page manifesto called the “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” which served to give instructions on how to carry out genocide based on white nationalist ideals. Among Breivik’s thoughts on planning targeted attacks: consuming steroids so he could be a “superhuman one-man-army for 2 hours.” From the Washington Post: The mass shooting was said to be unique in its day for converting hateful right-wing ideology into a civilizational crusade. Breivik wanted to cleanse the West of Muslims, but he also said he was inspired by al-Qaeda, calling the Islamic terror network, which also promoted a hypermasculine vision of adventure and self-sacrifice, “the most successful militant group in the world.” Advertisement Recent reports point to the fact that these ideologies—and the violent plots they inspire—are no longer so unique. This is true more broadly of hate-based crimes (the SPLC reports that hate crimes were up, once again, in 2018), but it also appears to be true of domestic terror attacks based on white supremacist ideology. Just last month, James Harris Jackson of Baltimore, Md., pleaded guilty to terrorism charges related to his killing a black man on St. Patrick’s Day 2017. Jackson said he wanted to “inspire white men to kill black men, to scare black men and to provoke a race war.” Advertisement Hassan echoed some of this in his own writings, hoping to capitalize on increased racial and political tensions, reports the Post. “During unrest target both sides to increase tension,” Hasson wrote in an email. “In other words provoke gov/police to over react which should help to escalate violence. BLM protests or other left crap would be ideal to incite to violence.”<doc-sep>GREENBELT, Maryland—A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant arrested last week who federal authorities say was planning a domestic terrorist attack had amassed an arsenal of firearms and gun components used to fabricate untraceable home-built weapons. Among the more than a dozen firearms and ammunition in the Maryland home of Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson, investigators said he also purchased machined components that make up the body of an AR-15-style rifle and other guns. Known as “80% lower receivers,” the parts don’t have serial numbers and are not subject to federal firearms laws. With a few easily-purchased tools, a skilled gun enthusiast can machine the remaining 20% of a weapon at home, producing an unregulated, untraceable gun. The unfinished receivers were “originally made and marketed for the hobbyist who wanted to make his own firearm, and then they became popular with people who didn’t want the government to know they had firearms,” said Rick Vasquez, a firearms consultant and former official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. So-called ghost gun kits have exploded in popularity, along with online videos and tutorials instructing hobbyists how to fabricate them. Ghost guns have been used in mass-killing sprees and other high-profile gun crimes in recent years. In 2017, a Northern California man prohibited from possessing firearms by a restraining order killed five people with semiautomatic rifles he made himself. In 2016, a Baltimore man fired at police with a homemade AR-15, and Santa Monica, Calif., shooter John Zawahri used a ghost gun in his shooting spree that killed five in 2013. ATF agents are being sent to retrieve more firearms from people who should have never been able to buy them. Here is an in-depth look into the FBI background-check system and why things go wrong. Illustration: Laura Kammermann Lt. Hasson was arrested last Friday on charges of illegal gun possession, but prosecutors have also accused him of plotting to kill “on a scale rarely seen in this country.” The government said he had been stockpiling weapons since at least 2017 and recently developed a spreadsheet of targets that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and other prominent Democratic officials, journalists and pundits. Investigators discovered that Mr. Hasson had purchased 80% lower receivers and other parts for making guns, according to court documents. But prosecutors didn’t say whether he had used them to build guns. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered Lt. Hasson held in detention for two weeks pending further charges, likely related to the domestic terrorism accusations. His lawyer, federal public defender Julie Stelzig, didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment. Unfinished receivers of metal or polymer house the firing mechanism and can be purchased online without a background check, because the ATF doesn’t classify them as firearms. Buyers can finish the receiver with a drill press or a computerized metal-cutting machine and then add the remaining pieces, all of which are readily available online, to complete the gun. A finished receiver is considered a firearm by the ATF and would require a background check to purchase. Beyond at-home fabrication, advances in 3-D printing have made it easier for hobbyists and criminals alike to produce untraceable guns at home. But it is legal for a person to make a gun for himself or herself without a background check, gun law experts say. The number of these weapons in the American public’s hands is unknown, because the ATF cannot track them absent a serial number. But ATF officials say they have seized an increasing number of ghost guns in criminal cases, particularly in California. One Elk Grove, Calif., man pleaded guilty in 2017 to selling 92 AR-15 style rifles, five handguns and 88 silencers, all without serial numbers. California passed a law in 2016 requiring anyone who owns a firearm without a serial number to apply for one. New Jersey banned ghost guns last year, and at least two other states—Connecticut and Washington—are weighing proposals. On the federal level, Rep. Seth Moulton (D., Mass.,) co-sponsored legislation last year that would have classified 80% lower receivers as firearms requiring serial numbers. The legislation is slated to be reintroduced this Congress, his office said. Gun rights advocates have fought new regulations. “The idea that an individual who’s committing a crime with a firearm is going to build a firearm and then go get a serial number so that it can be traced back to them—that is kind of absurd,” said Craig DeLuz, a spokesman for the Firearms Policy Coalition. Lt. Hasson is still on active duty until his case is adjudicated, according to Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Scott McBride, though his access to Coast Guard headquarters has been revoked. As an officer, he has held a secret security clearance since April 2005, and no background checks provided any information of concern, Lt. Cmdr. McBride said. The Coast Guard’s investigative service first suspected Lt. Hasson in the fall of 2018 after being alerted to suspicious activity through the service’s insider threat program, Lt. Cmdr. McBride said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Coast Guard’s investigative service arrested him as soon as they were confident in the evidence they had gathered. —Sadie Gurman contributed to this article. Write to Zusha Elinson at zusha.elinson@wsj.com and Ben Kesling at benjamin.kesling@wsj.com<doc-sep>The U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant spent hours on end planning a wide-scale domestic terrorist attack, even logging in at his work computer on the job at headquarters to study the manifestos and heinous paths of mass shooters, prosecutors say. He researched how to carry out sniper attacks, they contend, and whether rifle scopes were illegal. And all the while, investigators assert, he was amassing a cache of weapons as he ruminated about attacks on politicians and journalists.<doc-sep>
A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist planned a domestic terrorist attack targeting politicians and journalists, federal prosecutors say in court papers. Christopher Paul Hasson was arrested last week on gun and drug charges, but intended "to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to court documents filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Maryland. Hasson was scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon in Maryland. Hasson has been stockpiling weapons since 2017, the government said, and created a list of targets including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Allegedly expressing extremist views for years, Hasson viewed pro-Russian, neo-fascist, and neo-Nazi literature thousands of times between January 2017 and 2019. He once wrote, "I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth" in an email draft, court documents said. Authorities found 15 guns and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition in Hasson's apartment. While working as an acquisitions officer in Washington, D.C., Hasson routinely read the manifesto by far-right domestic terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 Norwegian citizens in 2011. In a letter Hasson sent to himself, he called for "focused violence" and said he is a "long-time White nationalist." Related:White domestic terrorists threatened this city of refugees, here's what happened next Related:Hate group count hits 20-year high amid rise in white supremacy, report says "We need a white homeland as Europe seems lost," the letter included in court documents reads. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Barry Lane, spokesman for U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, said in a statement that the arrest was part of an investigation led by the Coast Guard. "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," Lane said. To "increase his ability to conduct attacks," Hasson also abused the narcotic tramadol and collected 30 bottles of human growth hormone, according to court documents. He wrote a list of targets on Jan. 17 that included prominent Democratic congressional leaders and MSNBC and CNN media personalities. Court documents identified some targets as Democratic Sens. Pelosi, Charles Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, as well as Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Maxine Waters and Ilhan Omar. Journalists listed included CNN's Chris Cuomo and MSNBC's Ari Melber. That day, Hasson also entered Google searches for "best place in dc to see congress people," "where do most senators live in dc" and "civil war if trump impeached," court documents said.