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A federal court agreed Tuesday to uphold the sentence of Christopher Hasson, a former Coast Guard officer who was accused of stockpiling weapons to launch a domestic terrorist attack.
In 2020, Hasson was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison, but he argued the "terrorism enhancement" that extended his sentence length was not valid because he was not convicted of a terrorism-related crime, the Associated Press reported. However, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' panel of three judges denied the appeal. That denial allowed the court to apply this enhancement even if the original offense is not directly related to terrorism.
When Hasson's Silver Spring, Maryland, apartment was first searched, authorities found 15 guns and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, according to the AP report. He received the sentence after pleading guilty to possessing unregistered silencers, possessing firearms as a drug addict and illegal possession of the opioid tramadol.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice said Hasson also acquired items like knives, camping supplies, steel body armor plates, tactical vests and smoke grenades for his alleged planned attack.
Evidence from the prosecution showed Hasson had white supremacist beliefs and highlighted the possibility he was considering using the weapons stockpile to harm prominent U.S. political figures.
Prosecutors from the Justice Department said the attacks Hasson was allegedly planning were inspired by Anders Behring Breivik's 2011 attack in Norway. Newsweek previously reported Breivik wrote a neo-Nazi manifesto before killing 77 people, most of whom were teenagers, saying they were targeted because they "embraced multiculturalism." The department's statement said Hasson had emailed the manifesto, as well as "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski's manifesto and Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph's memoir, to his Coast Guard computer.
The statement added that in writings, Hasson identified himself as a white nationalist of 30 years, saying he supported "focused violence" to establish a "white homeland."
According to the AP, the prosecutors said Hasson created a "hit list" in a spreadsheet, naming political figures like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, as well as journalists like MSNBC's Chris Hayes. Prosecutors added that looking through Hasson's search history also uncovered that he had looked into whether Supreme Court justices are "protected," then shortly afterward searched two justices' addresses.
The Justice Department's statement said he had also registered for an online sniper and sharpshooter forum and had studied shooting tactics.
Due to this evidence, U.S. District Judge George Hazel concluded Hasson was planning a "mass casualty assault as a way to act out his white nationalist views," according to the AP. The terrorism enhancement increased his sentence range from 41 to 51 months to 151 to 188 months.
Update 02/22/22 3:45 p.m. ET: This story was updated to add more information.
