He admired mass shooters and bombers, wanted to wipe out most of humanity with biological weapons, and planned to assassinate public figures. In the end, he pleaded guilty only to gun and drug charges, and got 13 years and 4 months, which his lawyer argues is too much. (Read story here.)
Christopher Hassen, 51 (left), served in the Marines, Army National Guard, and Coast Guard from 1988 until his arrest in 2019. He was a pro-Russia, neo-Nazi, white nationalist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Muslim skinhead all along. And he brazenly used work computers (how smart was that?) to plot attacks, search for potential victims’ home addresses, and visit websites with “pro-Russian, neo-fascist, and neo-Nazi literature.”
He did get caught. And when authorities raided his home, they seized “seven rifles, two shotguns, four pistols, two revolvers, and two silencers, along with magazines and ammunition” (below).
I’ve got questions. First, why was someone like this in the military? Second, why did it take so long to catch him? Third, will this screw up his pension?
One final question: What do you think? Should this guy be on the streets, or locked up? How about a deep well? The key, I mean.
Return to The-Ave.US Home Page
Traditionally we do not charge and imprison or add time for thought crimes in this country. There are issues within the Patriot Act, terrorism laws, and laws on weapons of mass destruction hat Prosecutors now use. Sometimes they use them in ways the legislators did not foresee, in ways your average citizen may not imagine, and in our panic we may have gone too far on some of these laws.
Yes you can be a racist, even a member of the KKK or black panthers as long as you keep it out of the office or better yet off the base. You can be a member of the Communist party these days.
I agree he should be locked up on what he pleaded, but the judge erred in adding the additional time for terrorism charges. An appeals court should toss this to protect the rest of us.
The judge didn’t impose an additional sentence for “terrorism charges,” he imposed a sentencing enhancement for crimes the defendant pleaded guilty to, which isn’t the same thing. It’ll be interesting to see what the appellate court says about it. As a general proposition, mental state is relevant for sentencing and parole determinations. For example, it’s not an abuse of discretion for a judge to give less time within a sentencing range to a defendant who expresses remorse and more time to one who says he’ll do it again. That’s why Hasson’s attorneys are arguing he said these things in a drug-induced haze and didn’t really intend to go on a killing spree. Prosecutors will argue the pile of weapons says otherwise. This judge sided with community safety, as he did earlier in the case when he reversed a magistrate’s release of the defendant to home detention and ordered him held pending trial.