CNN
—
A Wisconsin teenager allegedly killed his parents as part of a plot to assassinate President Donald Trump, federal authorities said in newly unsealed court documents.
Nikita Casap, 17, called for the assassination of the president and overthrow of the US government in written documents and text messages found by investigators, according to a federal affidavit obtained by CNN affiliate WISN. The alleged killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to attain the “financial means and autonomy” to carry out his plan, investigators said.
In Wisconsin, the teen faces nine felony charges, including two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of hiding a corpse, according to online court records and a Waukesha County criminal complaint filed in late March.
Federal investigators, meanwhile, are pursuing three charges: presidential assassination, conspiracy and use of weapons of mass destruction, according to the affidavit, which was written by an FBI agent in support of an application for a search warrant.
CNN has reached out to Casap’s attorneys for comment. He has not entered pleas on any of the state charges yet, county records indicate.
Police believe the suspect’s mother, Tatiana Casap, and his stepfather, Donald Mayer, were killed on February 11, according to the Waukesha County complaint. Both were found dead from gunshot wounds more than two weeks later, on February 28, when Waukesha County Sheriff’s deputies performed a welfare check at the family’s home.
The suspect was not in the home, and authorities listed Mayer’s SUV as stolen.
That evening, officers with the WaKeeney Police Department in Kansas performed a traffic stop on the vehicle and found the suspect driving, the complaint says. In the vehicle, authorities found $14,000 in $100 bills, more than $14,000 worth of jewelry and a .357 Magnum revolver purchased by Mayer.
The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant and found material on Casap’s phone related to the “The Order of Nine Angles,” which is “a network of individuals holding neo-Nazi racially motivated extremist views,” the federal affidavit says. They also found photos and communications referencing “a self-described manifesto regarding assassinating the president, making bombs, and terrorist attacks,” it says.
A three-page document the FBI found called for Trump’s assassination to create a political revolution in the US and “save the white race.”
“As to why, specifically Trump, I think it’s pretty obvious. By getting rid of the president and perhaps the vice president, that is guaranteed to bring in some chaos,” one excerpt from the document said, according to the affidavit.
The document also contained images of Adolf Hitler along with the text: “HAIL HITLER HAIL THE WHITE RACE HAIL VICTORY.”
The FBI additionally found an image and messages on his phone with information on how to use a drone as an attack drone, per the affidavit. He paid, at least in part, for a drone and explosives to commit an attack, investigators said. They had also found photos of the front and back of Mayer’s credit and debit cards, and the username and password of a bank account.
The 17-year-old’s classmate told the sheriff’s office in March that Casap had told him he planned to kill his parents but did not have access to a gun, the affidavit says.
Casap later told the classmate that he would befriend someone who had a gun and steal it, according to the affidavit. The court document also said Casap told his classmate that he was in contact with someone in Russia and they were planning on overthrowing the US government and assassinating Trump.
According to the Waukesha County complaint, detectives found messages indicating Casap planned to leave the US for Ukraine. In one Telegram message, he asked, “So while in Ukraine, I’ll be able to live a normal life? Even when it’s found out I did it?”
Casap is scheduled to appear for arraignment on May 7, the Waukesha County court docket says.
