Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

White Nationalist Coast Guard Officer Won’t Face Terrorism Charges

The Coast Guard officer who federal prosecutors accuse of amassing a stockpile of weapons and compiling a hit list of Democrats and media figures, and who prosecutors say is a white nationalist, is asking to be released from prison in advance of his trial because he has been charged with no terrorism-related crimes.

The officer, Christopher Hasson, is a white nationalist who revered the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, prosecutors say. But so far, they have only charged him with firearms and drug offenses.

In a court filing this week, Hasson’s attorney said that prosecutors revealed in a status conference that they intend to file no further chargers, the Associated Press reported.

“No other crimes have been charged,” the attorney wrote, according to the A.P. “Moreover, during a recent status call, government counsel advised the Court and defense counsel that it does not expect to file a superseding indictment in this matter.”

Hasson’s arrest on February 15 came amidst growing concern over the rise of white supremacist violence. Court filings called Hasson a “domestic terrorist,” and described his white nationalist views. He pled not guilty to weapon and drug charges.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.