Jan. 6 Rioter Who Praised Hitler Tracked Down & Charged With Firearms Offenses

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Virginia man Hatchet Speed — which is somehow a real name — was recently charged with three federal firearms offenses that carry a combined potential of up to 30 years in prison.

Speed was already facing additional criminal charges for participating in last year’s Trump-incited riot at the Capitol, where he previously said he joined in the assault with members of the violent, far-right group the Proud Boys. Speed’s riot charges originally included four misdemeanors, including illegally parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, which comes with up to six months in prison and has repeatedly shown up in criminal cases against rioters facing less serious allegations. Now, Speed is facing three charges of illegal possession of an unregistered silencer after spending over $50,000 on various weapons in the months after last year’s riot. An FBI search of where Speed was living uncovered weaponry including more than a dozen firearms and seven silencers.

Pistols, revolvers, shotguns, and rifles were among what Speed procured after the riot, and the FBI search also revealed more than two dozen additional firearms in Speed’s residence that apparently belonged to other people living there. Adding to the level of concern here, Speed expressed anti-Semitic sentiments and an interest in using violence in support of those sentiments to an undercover FBI agent, according to available information. So-called anti-government sentiments were also among what Speed espoused and was inclined towards supporting with violence, per recent revelations. Alongside all of these developments, he even praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Speed is also a Navy reservist assigned to a post in the intelligence community who — at least as of recently — retained a security clearance allowing him to view top secret/sensitive compartmented information.

Speed is under home detention as he awaits further action on his original riot charges, which were unveiled in June, and these additional firearms allegations. He is also subject to GPS monitoring and a ban on possessing weapons. Speed used to work for a cyber analytics company that was approved for working with classified information for agencies including the Defense Department, but he apparently resigned. Speed’s potential interactions with federal personnel could have provided for possibly dangerous outcomes. According to additional revelations garnered from an undercover agent, Speed said numerous “enemies” were around Washington, D.C. These are the kinds of people Trump is attracting to his cause, apparently — and when the former president talks about potentially issuing pardons to riot participants if he becomes president again, these are the kinds of people who could benefit.