Another supposed terrorist plot to watch - made in the USA.

[Peter Lemkin]

Man arrested for alleged ISIS-inspired plot on U.S. Capitol

By The Associated Press
January 14, 2015 - 04:42 pm
Updated: January 15, 2015 - 01:47 am



WASHINGTON (ABC News/AP) - The FBI has arrested an Ohio man for allegedly plotting an Islamic State-inspired attack on the U.S. Capitol, where he hoped to set off a series of bombs aimed at lawmakers, whom he allegedly considered enemies.

Christopher Lee Cornell. (Photo: jail mugshot via ABC News)
Christopher Cornell's arrest by FBI agents. (Photo: WKRC/Sinclair)

Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, -- also known as Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah -- was arrested Wednesday on charges of attempting to kill a U.S. government official.
Government documents say the FBI first noticed Cornell after he voiced support for violent "jihad" on a Twitter account.
Cornell allegedly posted statements, videos and other content expressing support for ISIS -- the brutal terrorist group also known as ISIL -- that is wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria.
The Islamic State militant organization, which broke with the al-Qaida network, has drawn jihadi fighters from across the Muslim world and Europe. It has been blamed for violence such as the beheadings of foreign captives including a former U.S. soldier turned aid worker and two American journalists.
Further investigation revealed Cornell's intent to attack the U.S. Capitol, and he planned to detonate pipe bombs there and open fire on any employees and officials after the bombs went off, according to government documents.
"I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything," Cornell allegedly wrote in an online message to an FBI informant in August, according to the FBI. "I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves."
In the message, Cornell said that such attacks "already got a thumbs up" from radical cleric Anwar Awlaki "before his martyrdom."
Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011, but his online messages calling for attacks on the West live on.
U.S. officials considered Awlaki an operational leader within al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based terror group tied to the deadly assault on a satirical magazine in Paris last week.
Cornell and the informant met in Cincinnati, Ohio over two days in October, and then another two days in November. During the last meeting, Cornell told the FBI informant that members of Congress were enemies and that he wanted to launch an attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., according to charging documents.
The documents say Cornell discussed his plan for them to travel to Washington and conduct reconnaissance of the security of government buildings including the Capitol before executing "a plan of attack."
Cornell then allegedly saved money to finance the attack and researched how to build bombs, the FBI said.
On Wednesday, while taking "final steps" to travel to Washington for the attack, Cornell allegedly bought two semi-automatic rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition from a store in Ohio before being arrested, authorities said.
The public was never in danger in the investigation, said John Barrios, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's Cincinnati division.
Within hours of Cornell's arrest, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies across the country notifying them of the case.
"The alleged activities of Cornell highlight the continued interest of US-based violent extremists to support designated foreign terrorist organizations overseas, such as ISIL, by committing terrorist acts in the United States," the bulletin read. "Terrorist group members and supporters will almost certainly continue to use social media platforms to disseminate English language violent extremist messages."
Messages left Wednesday for attorney Karen Savir, a federal public defender listed in court records as Cornell's attorney, were not immediately returned.