A 20-year-old Cincinnati-area man named Christopher Lee Cornell was arrested Wednesday after allegedly buying weapons and telling an FBI informant that he planned to attack the U.S. Capitol building with “bombs and firearms.” Cornell claimed he was in contact with overseas terrorist groups but allegedly said he wanted to execute the attack on his own. From the New York Times:
In two face-to-face meetings in the fall, Mr. Cornell told the informant that he needed weapons and wanted to “move” on his threat in December, the F.B.I. said. He said that he considered members of Congress to be enemies and that he intended to conduct an attack on the Capitol using bombs and firearms.
The F.B.I. said plans for an attack and instructions for making pipe bombs were found on Mr. Cornell’s computer. He was taken into custody on Wednesday after buying semiautomatic rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition, officials said.
The Times writes that the FBI’s informant “first made contact with Mr. Cornell in August using an unspecified instant messaging system.” ABC News reports that the informant originally reported Cornell to the FBI because Cornell was “voicing support” for terror attacks on Twitter under the name Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah.
Cornell’s plan was to detonate pipe bombs at the Capitol and then fire on individuals fleeing the building, ABC says.
