A 25-year-old former Army National Guardsman has been charged with attempting to provide al-Qaida with 3D-printed weapons, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Former Spc. Andrew Scott Hastings is charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations and illegal possession or transfer of a machine gun, according to a DOJ release.
In June 2024, FBI agents learned that Hastings, then serving in the Guard as an aircraft powertrain repairer, was on the social media platform Discord, allegedly discussing acts of violence against U.S. citizens in “furtherance of global jihad,” according to DOJ.
Court documents claim the Tulsa, Oklahoma, man controlled a Discord server called “Army of Muhammed.”
Over the course of several months of online discussions, Hastings allegedly offered to provide more than 500 pages of notes and U.S. Army manuals related to tactics and weapons manufacturing, according to DOJ. He also claimed he’d made a firearm and was interested in creating a nuclear weapon.
In late January and early March 2024, Hastings allegedly told people on the Discord server that he supported the establishment of a caliphate in the United States, according to court documents. Authorities claim he advocated that the group online develop cyberspace skills and surface warfare skills and begin a physical training regimen for fighters.
He began communicating with an undercover agent who claimed to have contacts in al-Qaida, according to DOJ. Authorities say they discussed 3D-printed firearms, machine gun conversion devices called “switches” and drones.
Hastings allegedly provided the undercover agent with a link to a website where he offered 3D-printed switches for sale. Surveillance footage showed Hastings twice arriving at a postal facility to ship boxes that held more than 100 3D-printed switches, two 3D-printed lower receivers for a handgun, one handgun slide and various handgun parts to be supplied to al-Qaida to use in terrorist attacks.
As the investigation was pending, Hastings agreed to voluntarily discharge from the Guard in June, according to DOJ.
“The successful arrest of this soldier is a testament to the strong partnership between Army Counterintelligence Command and the FBI,” said Brig. Gen. Sean F. Stinchon, command general of Army Counterintelligence Command, in a statement.
Through the investigation, agents learned some of Hastings’ alleged terrorist leanings predated the investigation. According to court documents, in September 2019, the Tulsa Police Department received a complaint that Hastings, then working at a restaurant, was talking about making explosive devices.
Hastings told police he was misunderstood, and he simply had an interest in chemistry and rockets, according to court documents.
Hastings served in the Oklahoma Army National Guard with a date of rank of September 2023, National Guard Bureau officials told Army Times. He had no deployments. His awards include the National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Aviation Badge, officials said.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
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