Coast Guard officer accused of planning to kill Democratic leaders, journalists

Federal prosecutors say that a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant arrested last week on drug and gun charges wanted to "murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country."

Christopher Paul Hasson was arrested on Feb. 15, and investigators discovered 15 firearms and 1,000 rounds of ammunition in his Silver Spring, Maryland, home, court documents say. Prosecutors allege that Hasson was a "domestic terrorist" who held extremist views and described himself in a document found on his computer as a "long time White Nationalist, having been a skinhead 30 plus years ago before my time in the military."

Prosecutors say from January 2017 to January 2019, Hasson read "neo-fascist and neo-Nazi literature" online, and on Jan. 17 he searched "what if trump illegally impeached," "best place in dc to see congress people," and "civil war if trump impeached." On that same day, he compiled a list of "political leaders, media leaders, cultural leaders, and industry leaders" he wanted to target, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, Ari Melber, and Chris Hayes, and CNN's Chris Cuomo, Don Lemon, and Van Jones.

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A law enforcement source told NBC News that the Coast Guard flagged Hasson because he was searching extremist websites while using his work computer.