PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh-area man will remain jailed after searches revealed evidence of antisemitic and violent extremist ideologies following an indictment on a child porn charge, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced Wednesday.
Aidan Harding, 20, of Crescent Township, is accused of possessing photos and videos showing sexual abuse of minors.
He was held without bond pending trial after the Department of Justice said that Harding was an “unacceptable danger to the community.”
In addition to the child porn charge, the federal government presented evidence that Harding “adhered to a racially-motivated violent extremist ideology,” according to a release. The DOJ said he also possessed more than 20 guns, targeted Pittsburgh’s Jewish communities with antisemtic fliers and made comments online about his interest in “political and revenge driven” mass casualty events, which included references of Robert Bowers, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter.
A spokesperson for the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh sent Channel 11 the following statement after we reached out: “Aidan Harding has long been on our radar due to his blatant antisemitism and ties to neo-Nazi organizations. While we cannot comment on the specific charges in the indictment, we can affirm that his extremist ideology, combined with access to weapons, has posed a serious potential threat to both the Jewish community and the broader Pittsburgh community. We are grateful for the swift and decisive actions of law enforcement and federal prosecutors and the ongoing collaboration among agencies working to ensure our collective safety.”
The DOJ said that Harding also had previously been found guilty of terroristic threats in a juvenile court for talking online about his desire to commit a “high kill count” attack, having videos that showed mass shootings from around the world and filming himself re-enacting the Columbine mass shooting at a memorial honoring the victims.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation leading to Harding’s indicment.
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