'Her jaw dropped': Judge orders release of Coast Guard officer accused of racist terrorist plots

Coast Guard officer Christopher Hasson will be released from custody, despite the government's accusation that he is a domestic terrorist who targeted high-profile Dmeocratic figures and African Americans. The judge overseeing his case said Thursday that while Hasson is dangerous, he has not been proven to be as dangerous as the government claims, according to WBAL reporter Kate Amara.

"Hasson’s wife was in courtroom, and her jaw dropped when she heard the judges decision," Amara noted on Twitter.

Judge Charles Day said he had "grave concerns" about Hasson, CNN reported, but he said the government had not demonstrated that met the legal standard for denial of bail.

The government hasn't brought terrorism charges against Hasson; instead, it only charged him with weapons possession and drug charges. It made allegations about Hasson's terrorist activities without officially charging them.

However, it seems to have gone out of its way to show that Hasson had vicious and danger objectives. CNN reported Wednesday:

According to the court filing, Hasson searched for the "best" gun with which to kill African-Americans, "after which he visited various firearm sales websites."

They say in August 2017 he searched for "white homeland" and "when are whites going to wake up." A few months later, he allegedly searched for "please god let there be a race war."

The details in the new court filing were first reported by counterterrorism expert Seamus Hughes and the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

The report that Hasson was being released despite the seriousness of the allegations against him stunned many observers.

"Had to read this a couple times to make sure I was seeing this correctly," said CBS reporter Kathryn Watson of the report.