A Tulsa, Oklahoma man, identified as Andrew Scott Hastings, has been charged with crimes associated with providing support to al-Qaida, specifically attempting to supply the terrorist group with 3-D printed weapons. According to a document released by the Department of Justice, the 25-year-old man appeared before a federal judge following the unsealing of a criminal complaint against him. Hastings is facing charges for attempting to provide material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations and the illegal possession or transfer of a machine gun.
Investigations began after the FBI observed Hastings on a social media app, where he discussed committing acts of violence against U.S. civilians and furthering global jihad. As exposed in court records, Hastings, who served as an aircraft powertrain repairer in the U.S. Army National Guard, traveled internationally without reporting his whereabouts, a requirement given his national security clearance. He offered a social media group over 500 pages of notes and Army manuals on weapon manufacturing and tactics, claiming he could produce firearms and expressing interest in creating a nuclear weapon.
According to the Department of Justice, undercover agents engaged Hastings, who thought he was dealing with an intermediary for al-Qaida. Their exchanges covered various topics, including 3-D printed firearms and machinegun conversion devices, referred to as "switches." Hastings provided these agents with access to a website offering 3-D printed switches for sale, claiming advantages of using tunnels in protecting armed militants, drawing a parallel to Hamas's use of tunnels in Gaza. When Hastings shipped boxes with over 100 switches, including various handgun parts, he was captured on surveillance footage at a postal facility, unwittingly supplying these weapons components for what he believed would support al-Qaida.
Before his arrest, Hastings had agreed to be voluntarily discharged from the Guard on June 6. Announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg, U.S. Attorney Clinton J. Johnson for the Northern District of Oklahoma, and Assistant Director Donald Holstead of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, the investigation into Hastings was a collaborative effort. Authorities, including the FBI's Oklahoma City – Tulsa Resident Agency Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Army Counterintelligence Command, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Tulsa Police Department, took part. Nathan E. Michel, Matthew P. Cyran, and Christopher J. Nassar, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the Northern District of Oklahoma, with support from Trial Attorney Elisa Poteat of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section, are leading the prosecution.
