An anti-Semitic Navy reservist with a high-level security clearance was arrested this week on allegations he participated in the Capitol riot with members of the Proud Boys, according to federal court filings.
Hatchet Speed, a petty officer first class in the U.S. Naval Reserve, was arrested Wednesday on misdemeanor charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Although Speed has not been charged for violence, U.S. prosecutors are concerned his ideologies – combined with a recent firearms buying spree in which he spent at least $50,000 at firearm retailers over a span of a few months – make him a threat to the public.
According to a federal court filings unsealed Thursday, Speed has expressed a desire to “wipe out” the Jewish race, and has presented theories on how to do it. He has also praised the writings of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph and the “Unabomber,” Ted Kacyznski, filings read.
Federal prosecutors have requested Speed be released to home detention with location monitoring. However, they want him in detention somewhere other than his permanent residence so he does not have access to any firearms.
Speed’s arrest stems from conversations he had with an undercover FBI agent. Speed told the agent it “was always the plan” for him and his friends who are members of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“We would listen to Donald Trump, then all of us would go to the Capitol,” Speed told the FBI agent, according to the complaint. “Now the reason we were going to the Capitol was to protest what was going on in the Capitol … what they were doing was counting the ballots.”
Speed and his friends did not initially intend to enter the Capitol, but after Vice President Mike Pence started the certification process, they felt betrayed and entered with hundreds of others, Speed told the agent.
While in the Capitol, they heard a rumor that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would delay the certification, so they left. Speed told the agent he was disappointed the delay turned out to be false, and said he had hoped that more people would show up.
“It should have gotten to the point where Nancy Pelosi should have resigned out of fear for her life. That’s what should have happened,” Speed said, according to the court filings.
At the time of his arrest, Speed was assigned to the Naval Warfare Space Field Activity at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which is a part of the U.S. intelligence community.
An NRO spokesperson said Speed was not assigned to the NRO-affiliated facility at the time of the insurrection. Speed has had the assignment at the NRO-affiliated Navy Reserve Unit since March 2022 and has not had access to NRO facilities or systems.
But Speed has had a long career in the U.S. Naval Reserve. According to his service record, Speed entered the reserve in 2002 and has served stints at Naval Information Warfare Systems Command and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
“I wanted to join the military and go shoot guns and kill people. It’s innate,” Speed told the undercover agent, according to descriptions of the conversations included in court filings.
Speed is the ninth current member of the military arrested in connection with Jan. 6, according to a CBS News analysis of military service records, court documents and attorney statements. In addition, more than 75 veterans have been arrested in connection with the riot.
When reached by CBS News, an attorney for Speed had no comment on the arrest or the allegations.
