'IS-Inspired' Ohio Man Arrested for Planning Attack on US Capitol

WASHINGTON, January 15 (Sputnik) — An Ohio man was arrested for allegedly plotting to attack the US Capitol building and kill government officials, the FBI announced.

“The Joint Terrorism Task Force has arrested a Cincinnati-area man for a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol and kill government officials,” the FBI said in a Wednesday statement.

Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, who also went by the alias Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah on Twitter, was allegedly influenced by the Islamic State and professed intent to commit jihad, FBI documents show. Cornell allegedly posted videos, statements and other content on-line in support of the Islamic State and violent acts committed outside the United States.

His arrest comes after several months of investigation and contact between Cornell and a confidential FBI source, in which Cornell allegedly plotted to place a pipe bomb at the Capitol then shoot and kill government officials, according to the FBI charges.

He was also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, the FBI arrest warrant states.

The arrest comes as US and Europe heighten security amid concerns home-grown terrorists inspired by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda will carry out attacks on Western targets. On January 7, the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo was attacked by gunmen, who murdered 12 people and injured another 11. The two brothers responsible for the attack were later killed by police after an extensive manhunt, and a third suspect turned himself in. Another gunman in Paris who knew the brothers killed four in a kosher supermarket in Paris before being killed by French security forces in a raid.