Boston, May 16 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Maryland, a federal judge has ruled that a Coast Guard lieutenant accused of stockpiling weapons hoping to kill prominent Democrats and journalists can be released from jail while he awaits trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Day’s ruling, if it holds up on appeal, will allow 50-year-old Christopher Hasson to be supervised by relatives in a 24-hour home detention ahead of his trial on weapons charges.

Prosecutors say Hasson espoused white nationalist views, researched the addresses of U.S. Supreme Court justices, sought to assassinate Democratic presidential hopefuls and cable news anchors, and intended to “murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.”