Hasson's weapons stockpile.Maryland U.S. District Attorney/AP
On Friday, Christopher Hasson, a 50-year-old Maryland man, was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison for various drug and gun charges after drafting a hit list targeting popular left-leaning media personalities and Democratic politicians.
Hasson, a former Coast Guard lieutenant who described himself as a white nationalist, was plotting to kill a litany of high-profile liberals including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and television personalities like MSNBC hosts Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough. When he was arrested last February, law enforcement searched his home and found a stockpile of guns and ammunition. Court filings also indicated that he’d ordered more than 4,000 opioid pills between March 2016 and February 2019, taking the bulk of them himself, often while working at the Coast Guard’s headquarters.
“Christopher Hasson intended to inflict violence on the basis of his racist and hateful beliefs,” Robert Hur, the US Attorney for the District of Maryland, said in a statement Friday. “As long as violent extremists take steps to harm innocent people, we will continue to use all of the tools we have to prevent and deter them.”
