Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Former US guardsman charged with trying to sell guns to Al-Qaeda

Adam Scott Hastings “discussed the advantages of using tunnels to protect armed militants, consistent with news reports about Hamas’s use of tunnels in Gaza,” per the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gavel next to American flag. Credit: Sergei Tokmakov/Pixabay.
Gavel next to American flag. Credit: Sergei Tokmakov/Pixabay.

Adam Scott Hastings, 25, resigned from the National Guard as the federal government probes him for allegedly trying to sell weapons to Al-Qaeda, a terrorist group, according to a complaint that the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed on Wednesday.

Hastings, who had national security clearance, worked as an aircraft powertrain repairer and failed to report travel outside the United States, as required by law, while employed at the National Guard, according to the Justice Department.

According to the department, Hastings offered to provide U.S. Army manuals “related to tactics and the manufacture of weapons” to others and “discussed the advantages of using tunnels to protect armed militants, consistent with news reports about Hamas’s use of tunnels in Gaza.”

He is also accused of offering to sell 3-D printed guns to an undercover official whom he thought was part of Al-Qaeda.

“Hastings claimed that he had previously been detained and interrogated by law enforcement and explained how to avoid law enforcement,” the department alleges. He “further alleged that he made a firearm” and “was interested in creating a nuclear weapon,” the department said.

On June 6, Hastings discharged voluntarily from the National Guard amid the investigation.

President Isaac Herzog was presented with an honorary degree by the Jewish Theological Seminary in Jerusalem.
The nations agreed on a coordination mechanism for citizen services following Jerusalem’s prolonged humanitarian assistance deployment to the country.
The diplomatic move joins a host of bilateral measures to immediately strengthen relations between Jerusalem and Bogotá.
The meeting “focused on strategies to strengthen Jewish safety and belonging, maintain candid lines of communication and collaborate on issues where we have shared values and goals,” Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the Mayor’s office to Combat Antisemitism, told JNS.