FBI: Naval reservist said he stormed Capitol

Prosecutors say petty officer poses threat to community

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Naval reservist who was assigned to an agency that operates spy satellites told an undercover FBI agent that he stormed the U.S. Capitol with members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and has espoused anti-government and antisemitic ideologies, federal authorities said in court records unsealed on Thursday.

Hatchet Speed was arrested on Wednesday in McLean on misdemeanor charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, including disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, court records show. Video captured Speed entering the Capitol through the Senate Wing Doors and exiting the building through a window more than 40 minutes later, according to the FBI.

The FBI says Speed, whose birth name is Daniel Abraham Speed, is a petty officer first class in the U.S. Naval Reserves and was assigned to the Naval Warfare Space Field Activity at the National Reconnaissance Office. Authorities believe Speed is currently unemployed, a prosecutor said in a court filing. Court records don’t list a defense attorney for Speed, who was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Thursday in Washington.

The National Reconnaissance Office operates U.S. spy satellites used by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies. The secretive agency has an important role in the U.S. intelligence community, which relies heavily on satellite imagery to monitor global hot spots like Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Speed recently worked in Vienna, Virginia, as a software developer for Novetta Solutions LLC, a defense contractor that conducts advanced analytics for the Defense Department and other federal agencies, the FBI said.

In March, Speed met with an FBI undercover employee who “presented to Speed as a like-minded individual,” an FBI agent said in a court filing. Speed told the undercover agent that going to the Capitol on Jan. 6 “was always the plan” and said he went there with friends who were Proud Boys members, the filing says.

“We would listen to Donald Trump then all of us would go to the Capitol. 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 said, according to the FBI.

Speed also said a larger crowd could have compelled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to resign “out of fear for her life,” an FBI agent wrote.

“He also observed that ‘there are too many Americans that have this idea that we have to be peaceful at all costs,’ ” the agent added.

Prosecutors are seeking a court order requiring home detention with location monitoring for Speed after his release from custody. They say his statements and conduct show that he poses a threat of violence to the community.

After the Capitol riot, Speed bought at least 12 firearms over the span of a few months and spent more than $50,000 at firearm and firearm-part retailers, a prosecutor said in a court filing.

“This firearm-buying spree is alarming in light of statements that Speed has made in which he has espoused the use of violence to further his anti-government and anti-Semitic ideologies,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Loeb wrote.

In April, Speed told an FBI undercover employee he has contemplated using violence to further his antisemitic beliefs and discussed using violence against members of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization.

Speed described Adolf Hitler as “one of the best people that’s ever been on this earth,” an FBI agent wrote. Speed also praised the writings of serial bombers Ted Kaczynski and Eric Rudolph and lauded tactics employed by “jihadists,” suggesting that their approach would be an effective way to “wipe out” Jewish people, according to Loeb.

Speed criticized militias “for not having what it takes to actually use violence,” the prosecutor said.

“He described trying to figure out how to identify potential targets and using a ‘mock trial’ to identify targets he could justify to himself acting against,” Loeb wrote.

Federal agents said they seized eight firearms and seven silencers when they searched Speed’s home, vehicles and a storage unit. They also said they found roughly 25 other firearms belonging to Speed’s housemates.