CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) — A southwest Ohio man arrested in an FBI sting and charged with plotting to set off bombs at the U.S. Capitol and shoot government officials is due in court.
Christopher Lee Cornell, who lived with his parents in suburban Cincinnati, is scheduled to appear in federal court for the first time on Friday afternoon.
Cornell, 20, was arrested Wednesday and charged with plotting to attack the Capitol with pipe bombs and guns. Court documents say the arrest came after he posted on Twitter his support for Muslim terrorists and then met with FBI informant about his plans.
His father, John Cornell, said his son was taken in by a “snitch” and they will fight the charges.
Federal authorities say Twitter posts sympathizing with Islamic terrorists led to Cornell’s arrest, but House Speaker John Boehner – who has been targeted by two different plots revealed this week — says a controversial government surveillance program is responsible for alerting authorities to Cornell’s plot.
At a news conference in Hershey, Pa., Boehner specifically mentioned FISA, an acronym for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a program that gives the government authority to eavesdrop under certain conditions.
He made his comments at a news conference in Hershey, Pa., where House and Senate Republicans are holding a retreat. He spoke after the FBI arrested Cornell.
It was revealed earlier this week that a Cincinnati-area man had threatened to kill Boehner.
The sheriff overseeing the jail where Cornell is being held says the man is being closely monitored.
Sheriff Richard Jones says Cornell is being held by himself in a special a cell in the Butler County Jail and is being watched closely by correctional officers. Cornell requested and has been allowed to see a clock and to have something to kneel on to pray in his cell. The sheriff says Cornell speaks with an accent that Jones described as “fake” and “Middle Eastern.”