Capitol Attack Plot Charged Against Ohio ISIS Supporter
An Ohio man who allegedly considered himself an ally of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was charged with plotting to detonate pipe bombs at the U.S. Capitol in Washington and then shoot employees and officials.
Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, was arrested by government agents today after buying two semi-automatic rifles and about 600 rounds of ammunition, U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent T.A. Staderman said in a court filing.
Cornell is charged with attempting to kill a U.S. government officer and with possession of a firearm in furtherance of an attempted crime of violence, according to the filing. He made an initial appearance before a federal magistrate judge in Cincinnati who scheduled a bail hearing for Jan. 16.
His arrest comes days after another Ohio man was indicted for threatening to kill U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. It also follows last week’s Paris attacks that left 17 people dead for which a branch of the al Qaeda terrorist network has claimed responsibility.
Cornell voiced his support for “violent jihad” on Twitter accounts he maintained under the alias Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah and told an FBI informant he considered himself allied with Islamic State militants, according to Staderman’s affidavit. The militants, known as ISIS, control large swaths of Syria and Iraq.
Cornell told the informant in August that while he’d been in contact with people overseas, he didn’t believe he could get express authorization for an attack in the U.S., the agent said.
Wage Jihad
“I believe we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything,” Cornell allegedly told the informant. “I believe that we should meet up and make our own group alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves.”
He later told the informant that he considered members of Congress to be enemies. The FBI learned of Cornell and his Twitter feed from the informant, who was seeking “favorable treatment with respect to his exposure on an unrelated case,” Staderman said.
At his appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie K. Bowman, Cornell was represented by Karen Savir, an lawyer with the Federal Public Defender’s office. Savir didn’t immediately respond to voice and e-mail messages seeking comment on the case.
Normal Precautions
Lieutenant Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for U.S. Capitol Police, said today her agency cooperated with the FBI in the case. At no point did the matter lead to the taking of any security precautions above those normally in place, she said.
Michael R. Hoyt, who allegedly threatened to kill Boehner with poison or a gun, worked as a bartender at a country club frequented by the speaker.
Hoyt allegedly told Deer Park, Ohio, police that Boehner had been mean to him and was responsible for Ebola, according to Cincinnati federal court filings.
Hoyt, 44, was sent to the federal medical center in Devens, Massachusetts, for a psychiatric examination, according to court records.
“Once again, the entire Congress owes a debt of gratitude to the FBI and all those who keep us safe,” Boehner’s spokesman, Michael Steel, said today in a statement.
U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called upon President Barack Obama to urgently counter violent domestic Islamic extremism.
“These terrorists are intent on attacking our country and are attempting to convince Americans at home to radicalize, embrace their perverse world view and commit acts of violence,” McCaul said.
The cases are U.S. v. Cornell, 15-mj-00024 and U.S. v. Hoyt, 15-cr-00001, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati).