A Police car is parked in front of the United States District Court Greenbelt Division

White Supremacist Arrested With Giant List of Journalists & Democrats He Planned to Murder & I’m Sure Trump Will Comment on This Any Minute, Right?

This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information

Recommended Videos

A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and vocal white supremacist was arrested this week and in addition to a gigantic stockpile of weapons and ammo, the FBI also found a list of people that the man, Christopher Hasson, apparently wanted to kill, along with a plan of how to do so. The list included a large number of media figures of liberal politicians.

Hasson reportedly wrote a letter to a “known American neo-Nazi leader” in which he declared himself to be a “long time [sic] White Nationalist” for over 30 years, and called repeatedly for a “white homeland.” He called himself a “man of action,” saying that the way to “make change [is] with a little focused violence.”

Clearly, this is a monster of a human who is responsible for his own actions. It’s also hard to not immediately think of Donald Trump and the ways in which he encourages people like this to feel emboldened. Earlier this week, Trump called the New York Times a “true enemy of the people.” Yesterday, he commented on Jussie Smollett’s “racist and dangerous comments” after the actor was charged with filing a fake police report after he allegedly staged a hate crime against himself. He hasn’t, of course, commented on Hasson’s case.

On last night’s Late Show, Stephen Colbert noted Trump’s silence, saying “This man is a homicidal, racist monster serving in our military. But don’t worry, the commander-in-chief slapped him down with a savage tweet of… nothing.”

“Silence. Hasn’t commented,” he said. “It makes sense. Hasson only wants to kill everyone on Earth. It’s not like he’s hosting SNL.”

There are some conservative media outlets falling all over themselves to prove a lack of evidence supporting the idea that Hasson was a Trump supporter.

Headline reading "Christopher Hasson, Coast Guard officer, was a nihilist and there’s no evidence he was a Trump supporter"

From a garbage site that rhymes with the Shmawshington Shmexaminer

Even ignoring the fact that his list of targets was all Democrats and liberal figures, Hasson also, according to court documents, searched for information about Joe Scarborough after he read a headline in which MSNBC’s Scarborough referred to Trump as “the worst ever.” In his list of targets, he named “poca warren,” presumably meaning Elizabeth Warren, via Trump’s incredibly racist nickname for her. So even if you’re going to argue that Hasson isn’t doing this in the name of Trump, you can’t realistically argue that Trump hasn’t had his ear.

And Trump knows this. He’s always known this. He’s been warned, both directly and through countless headlines, that his words have an impact and that his disingenuous attacks on journalists and Democrats are going to have, and are already having, dangerous effects. And he just doesn’t care.

This week, the Southern Poverty Law Center says that there has been a 30% increase in the number of hate groups nationwide over the last four years, and a 7% increase in 2018 alone. In a statement (via NPR), Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project said, “The numbers tell a striking story — that this president is not simply a polarizing figure but a radicalizing one. Rather than trying to tamp down hate, as presidents of both parties have done, President Trump elevates it — with both his rhetoric and his policies. In doing so, he’s given people across America the go-ahead to act on their worst instincts.”

(image: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—


The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.