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Nazi-Loving Navy Reservist Convicted of Storming the Capitol

Hatchet M. Speed, a Virginia navy reservist, broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then bought $50,000 worth of firearms in the aftermath, prosecutors said.

A Virginia Navy reservist who praised Nazis was found guilty Tuesday for taking part in the violent Jan. 6 riot. Hatchet M. Speed had top-level U.S. security clearance in his role as a first class Navy reserve officer, and had been assigned to do intelligence work in the past. Speed broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 after learning then-Vice President Mike Pence wasn’t planning to attempt to overturn the certification of the 2020 election, saying Pence “sold us out.” “I’m going in there. I have no respect for the people in this building,” Speed said that day, according to prosecutors. “They have no respect for me.” After the riot, Speed bought $50,000 worth of firearms, prosecutors said. And in March 2022, he told an undercover FBI agent that he believed in using violence to further antisemitic and anti-government ideologies, according to court documents. Speed was convicted of obstruction of Congress along with four misdemeanors and will be sentenced May 8. Earlier this year, he was convicted for possessing three unregistered firearms silencers.