Examiner – by Rachel WeberThe Cincinnati, Ohio division of the FBI issued a media release today stating that they had worked in tandem with other law enforcement personnel in the arrest of one Christopher Lee, Cornell, 20, of Green Township, Ohio.
It appears that Mr. Cornell was planning on committing a terrorist attack in which he would bomb the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., then shoot any employees who tried to escape. Cornell had posted statements on social media sites stating that he supported the acts of ISIS, and that he believed Muslims should wage Jihad by setting up attacks here in America.
The FBI had been monitoring Cornell’s activities since last fall when they became aware of his postings on social media sites such as Twitter. Cornell posted under the name Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah. The FBI learned of these postings from an informant who had seen the posts last summer. After learning this information, the Bureau set up a sting operation where an undercover agent befriended Cornell and encouraged him to talk about his plots for Jihad. Agents began their communication with Cornell through online instant messaging.
The FBI had been conducting extensive surveillance on Cornell and had learned that he had maps of places he planned to attack and information on how to make homemade pipe-bombs. When Cornell walked into the “Point Blank Range & Gunshop,” located in Colerain Township, undercover agents were there waiting for him. The agents had known he was coming and had told the clerk to let any gun sale go through as usual. After Cornell purchased two AR-15s and 600 rounds of ammunition, the agents came forward and arrested him.
The arrest occurred shortly after 10:00 a.m.. Cornell has been charged with attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Cornell lived at home with his father John Cornell, who has since been interviewed by multiple news sources. John Cornell describes his son as a “Mama’s boy” whose best friend was his pet cat. Police and FBI raided this home shortly after Cornell’s arrest. Christopher’s father said that they showed him a search warrant but would not tell him why they were searching the home. John Cornell also pointed out that Christopher was only employed part time and that his savings was limited to $1,200. This led John Cornell to question how Christopher allegedly paid over $1,500 for the weapons that he planned to use in the attack, Christopher Cornell’s father has speculated that the undercover FBI agent was the same “friend” who was coming to the Cornell’s home to take Christopher to mosque, and that this agent gave the extra money to Cornell to encourage him to buy weapons. Mr. Cornell has said that this means Christopher was set up, and has insinuated that Christopher would have never been able to come up with a terrorist plot on his own.
John Cornell’s allegations against the FBI and its undercover operation bring up an interesting question for law enforcement, i.e. if a person claims to have an idea for a crime, but they are encouraged to tell more about this crime and even helped economically to make the crime happen, is this entrapment? Some say that Cornell was a mentally ill young man who would have latched onto any group that offered him acceptance. Cornell’s father has also said that he asked his son what he thought about terrorist acts and Christopher had said that Islam was a peaceful religion and the he would never engage in violence. Yet the fact remains that Cornell did come to the attention of law enforcement after he posted numerous comments praising terrorist acts in general and ISIS in particular. When most lawyers are asked about cases of entrapment, they say that the defining question is always: “Would a reasonable person engage in this activity?” An example of this is: if an undercover member of law enforcement leaves a briefcase full of money on your doorstep, would you take it? Most people would say that yes, they might take it, simply because it was left on their property and they have no way of finding out the true owner of the money, thus they can assume it is a gift. Conversely, a luxury automobile that is left unlocked in a parking lot may be a “bait car” for the police. Police can safely say that only a person with criminal intent would try to steal this car or its contents, therefore it cannot be called reasonable by most people’s standards.
In some of Cornell’s online postings he stated that he believed he and other Muslims should wage Jihad and plan attacks and operations in alliance with ISIS. Cornell claimed to be a member of ISIS and also paid homage to the now deceased radical cleric Anwar Awlaki.
Former classmates of Cornell say that he was a shy loner who did not socialize with anyone. When they heard that he had planned these attacks, they said that they were not surprised.
If you would like to read the media release from the FBI, go to the following link-
http://1.usa.gov/1y0tUpS
There hasn’t been a “terrorist” yet that wasn’t an FBI or MOSSAD patsy.