United States v. Hasson
Decision Date | 22 February 2022 |
Docket Number | No. 20-4126,20-4126 |
Citation | 26 F.4th 610 |
Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Christopher Paul HASSON, Defendant - Appellant. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
ARGUED: Cullen Oakes Macbeth, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellant. Thomas Patrick Windom, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: James Wyda, Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Robert K. Hur, United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.
Before MOTZ, DIAZ, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Rushing wrote the opinion, in which Judge Motz and Judge Diaz joined.
After unsuccessfully challenging the statute as unconstitutionally vague, Christopher Hasson pleaded guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) by possessing firearms as someone "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance," in addition to three related counts. At sentencing, the district court increased Hasson's Guidelines range pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3A1.4 upon concluding that his offense was intended to promote a federal crime of terrorism, and the court sentenced him to 160 months' imprisonment. On appeal, Hasson contends that Section 922(g)(3) is facially vague. He also argues that Section 3A1.4 cannot apply because he was not convicted of a federal crime of terrorism and, in any event, the district court clearly erred in applying the provision. We affirm his conviction and sentence.1
In February 2019, federal authorities arrested Hasson as he arrived for work at the United States Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. At the time, Hasson was a lieutenant in the Coast Guard. The sworn criminal complaint charged Hasson with unlawfully possessing Tramadol, an opioid pain reliever and Schedule IV controlled substance, and possessing firearms and ammunition as an unlawful user or addict of a controlled substance. See 21 U.S.C. § 844(a) ; 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3). Arresting agents found 196 Tramadol pills in Hasson's backpack and another 106 in his work desk. A simultaneous search of Hasson's residence uncovered another 122 Tramadol pills; 15 firearms; an unregistered, assembled firearm silencer; an unregistered, disassembled firearm silencer; and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. A blood sample drawn from Hasson that day showed Tramadol in his bloodstream.
In a motion to detain Hasson pending trial, the Government claimed the charges were "the proverbial tip of the iceberg." J.A. 25. According to the Government, its investigation revealed that Hasson was "a domestic terrorist, bent on committing acts dangerous to human life." J.A. 25.
The Government claimed that a draft email dated June 2, 2017—which it calls a "manifesto"—provided insight into Hasson's worldview. In it, Hasson wrote that he was "dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth" and contemplated "biological attacks followed by attack on food supply" and "[i]nstitut[ing] a bombing/sniper campaign." J.A. 879. Hasson continued:
Hasson penned similar sentiments in a September 2017 letter to Harold Covington, founder of a group advocating for a white ethnostate in the Pacific Northwest. Hasson identified himself as "a long time White Nationalist, having been a skinhead 30 plus years ago before my time in the military." J.A. 874. Hasson voiced dissatisfaction with "mass protest or wearing uniforms marching around provoking people with swastikas," stating instead, J.A. 874. Hasson hoped to "open a dialogue" with Covington "to coordinate efforts" in establishing a white homeland. J.A. 874.
Hasson's own writings were not the only ones to raise flags. He compiled the manifestos of mass murderers and terrorists the likes of Ted Kaczynski, Eric Rudolph, and Anders Breivik. He sent himself a Home Workshop Explosives handbook, The Anarchist Cookbook, a guide on how to make the plastic explosive Semtex, the U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook, and The Terrorist's Handbook, which discussed methods of buying, preparing, and detonating various explosive substances.
Hasson's internet search history showed a similar preoccupation with violence, white nationalism, and anti-government views. He routinely sought information about groups harboring white-supremacist, militant, and anti-government beliefs. He queried information about explosives, including homemade incendiaries, plastic explosives, ricin, homemade biological weapons, explosively formed penetrators, and shaped charges, including discussions about materials for making the latter two devices. He viewed hundreds of webpages related to firearms, ammunition, and firearms accessories.
Hasson also researched the movements and whereabouts of political figures. He searched for "where do senators live dc," "do senators have ss protection," "how often are senators in dc," "how do senators and congressman get around dc," "are supreme court justices protected," "where does justice kagan live," and "where does Sonia Sotomayor live." S.J.A. 454, 1048. After viewing a headline in which Joe Scarborough (television host and former U.S. Congressman) called former President Trump "the worst ever," Hasson spent several minutes reviewing Scarborough's Wikipedia page before searching "where is morning joe filmed." S.J.A. 1077–1078. His searching led him to the address for Scarborough's home, which Hasson then viewed in Google Maps.
In the Government's telling, Hasson's inquiries about specific individuals drew inspiration from Breivik's manifesto. On January 3, 2019, Hasson searched within the manifesto (saved on his Coast Guard computer) for "category A." Breivik classifies traitors as Category A, B, or C as a means of identifying priority targets. "Category A" includes influential and high-profile individuals, including political, media, cultural, and industry leaders. Two weeks later, Hasson spent three hours compiling a list of prominent politicians, activists, political organizations, and media personalities. The list contained 22 entries. That same day, Hasson searched the Internet for "best place in dc to see congress people" and "where in dc to [sic] congress live." S.J.A. 1089.
Hasson allegedly followed Breivik's manifesto in other ways too. He visited an internet forum on energetic materials and reviewed discussions on manufacturing explosives. He searched the manifesto for "steroids" and reviewed a section encouraging assailants to use them in preparation for attacks. In the same spreadsheet containing his list of individuals and organizations, Hasson devised a possible steroid cycle. Agents searching Hasson's home recovered over thirty bottles labeled as human growth hormone inside a locked container, five vials of testosterone
, and mestanolone (an anabolic steroid) in both pill and powder form.
Hasson also amassed weapons and tactical gear. In addition to the 15 firearms authorities found at Hasson's home, in a three-year period Hasson spent roughly $12,000 on holsters, knives, ammunition magazines, ammunition, handguards, camping supplies, Meals-Ready-to-Eat, body armor plates, plates carriers, tactical vests and pouches, firearm repair kits, firearm components, and smoke grenades. Among those purchases were metal parts with pre-indexed holes ready to be drilled and assembled into unlawful silencers. Hasson purchased a drill press and fully assembled one of the silencers, which he test-fired at least once.
In December 2017, Hasson registered for an online sniper and sharpshooter forum, purchased scopes for precision long-range shooting, and bought a Bergara Hunting and Match Rifle, outfitting it with one of the scopes and a bipod. An FBI...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Bowling v. McDonough
...principle survives Johnson , as well as Dimaya , which did not add anything to Johnson relevant here. See United States v. Hasson , 26 F.4th 610, 616–21 (4th Cir. 2022) ; see also Requena , 980 F.3d at 39–43 ; Kashem v. Barr , 941 F.3d 358, 376 (9th Cir. 2019) (" Johnson and Dimaya did not ......
-
United States v. Saleem
...arm” 18 within the meaning of the Second Amendment. U.S. v. Hasson, No. GJH-19-96, 2019 WL 4573424, at *4 (D. Md. Sept. 20, 2019), aff'd 26 F.4th 610 (4th Cir. 2022). There, the court considered expert testimony to conclude: The evidence showed that a silencer, which is also to as a muffler......
-
United States v. Saleem
... ... [ 5 ] Notably, in a case affirmed by the Fourth ... Circuit, the District Court for the District of Maryland held ... that a silencer is a firearm accessory, not a “bearable ... arm” ... within the meaning of the Second Amendment. U.S. v ... Hasson, No. GJH-19-96, 2019 WL 4573424, at *4 (D. Md ... Sept. 20, 2019), aff'd 26 F.4th 610 (4th Cir ... 2022). There, the court considered expert testimony to ... conclude: ... The evidence showed that a silencer, which is also referred ... to as a muffler or a ... ...
-
Advance Corp. v. Balt. Cnty.
...the vagueness challenge must fail because “[o]ne to whose conduct a statute clearly applies may not successfully challenge it for vagueness.” Id. Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 756 (1974)). The first concern in a void-for-vagueness challenge is whether the plaintiff had notice of the proscri......
-
ORDINARY MEANING AND ORDINARY PEOPLE.
...("Statutory construction is a search for the ordinary, contemporary meaning of terms in their context."); United States v. Hasson, 26 F.4th 610, 623 (4th Cir. 2022) (40 year-old Judge Allison Jones Rushing) ("'As in all statutory construction cases, we assume that the ordinary meaning of th......