Brothers charged after weapons, explosives and ‘hit list’ of celeb targets found in New York
Two brothers have been charged after a stockpile of 3D-printed guns, improvised explosives, anarchist propaganda and a “hit list” of celebrities and authority figures was found at their family home.
Andrew Hatziagelis, 39, and Angelo Hatziagelis, 51 were charged with 130 counts of various crimes, including alleged criminal possession and sale of weapons, US officials have said.
Investigators moved against the pair after being told that they were buying firearm parts and accessories and making illegal “ghost guns”, Sky News’ US partner NBC reported.
Pic: Queens County District Attorney’s Office
Ghost guns are firearms that don’t have a serial number, and are therefore untraceable.
They can be bought online and assembled at home, the anti-gun violence group Brady said on its website.
Brady said “ghost gun kits” include all of the parts and often the equipment necessary to build these weapons at home.
Pic: Queens County District Attorney’s Office
After being granted a search warrant earlier this month, detectives found an array of weapons, including two loaded AR-15-style ghost guns with detachable magazines, and a partially built bomb tripwire.
They also seized four loaded 9mm semi-automatic ghost gun pistols, two of them 3D-printed, one AK-47-style ghost gun assault rifle and more than 600 rounds of ammunition.
Handwritten notes. Pic: Queens County District Attorney’s Office
Police also found a 3D printer and other tools to assemble the ghost guns, as well as three sets of body armour and various notebooks on how to make explosives, plus anarchist propaganda.
The “hit list” – scribbled on a piece of paper – mentioned cops, judges, politicians and celebrities – as well as “corporate scum” and “bankerscum” – along with the messages “wipe out the scum” and “wipe out the Earth”.
Before entering the brothers’ home in New York, police ordered the entire building on 36th Avenue, which is opposite a power plant, to be evacuated, such was their concern about the explosives.
Pic: Queens County District Attorney’s Office
The two men lived with their mother and another brother, neither of whom are facing charges, NBC New York said, quoting police.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement: “The city is safer. We cannot measure the number of lives that were saved, but we do know that these weapons will never hurt anyone.”
Thousands of people gathered in various cities across the US as protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
Around 1,200 demonstrations were planned in locations including Washington DC, New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida – just miles away from where the US president has this weekend played golf.
The “Hands Off!” protests were against the Trump administration’s handling of government downsizing, human rights and the economy, among other issues.
In Washington DC, protesters streamed on the grass in front of the Washington Monument, where one person carried a banner which read: “Make democracy great again.”
Thousands gathered in Washington DC to rally against various Trump policies. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Another protester took aim at Mr Trump‘s handling of Russia and Ukraine, with a placard that read: “Stop Putin’s puppets from destroying America.”
Tesla boss Mr Musk also featured on many signs due to his role in controversial government cuts as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Demonstrators in NYC. Pic: AP
People marching in Atlanta, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
A rally in Vermont. Pic: The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist, said she drove to the rally to protest Mr Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
A drone view of the protest at the Utah State Capitol building. Pic Reuters
A protester sports a Handmaid’s Tale costume. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Some at the various protests carried Ukrainian flags, while others sported rainbow attire and waved rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Other protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs.
Thousands marched in New York City’s midtown Manhattan and in Boston, Massachusetts, while hundreds gathered in the sunshine outside the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, and in the rain outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
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Mr Trump – who shook financial markets with his tariffs announcement this week – spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf before returning to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
People protest in Manhattan. Pic: Reuters
Activists in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pic: AP
Some four miles from Mar-a-Lago, more than 400 people gathered – and drivers honked their horns in support of protesters who held up signs including one which read: “Markets tank, Trump golfs.”
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to go golfing again on Sunday.
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