America
US terror suspect reveals plot to shoot Obama
Washington, March 7
A US man arrested on
terrorism charges revealed that he had plotted to shoot President Barack
Obama and bomb the Capitol to retaliate against the US airstrikes
against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, Xinhua reported citing a
TV station.
The FOX 19 WXIX-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio, aired Friday
night part of its phone interview with Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, who
is being held in a Kentucky jail.
He confessed that had he not
been arrested in January, he would have put one of his guns to Obama's
head and pulled the trigger, and then attacked the Capitol, the Israeli
embassy and various other buildings.
Cornell, who identified
himself as a Muslim, said he planned to launch the attack because of
"continued American aggression against our people and the fact that
America, specifically President Obama, wants to wage war against Islamic
State".
"I got orders from the brothers overseas because I'm
with the Islamic State. My brothers over there, in Syria and Iraq, gave
me specific orders to carry out jihad in the West, so I did so," Cornell
said, referring to the IS militants who are fighting in Syria and Iraq.
Cornell,
a resident of Cincinnati, was detained outside a gun shop on January 14
after buying firearms and 600 rounds of ammunition.
He had
reportedly researched online how to make pipe bombs and discussed with
an informant from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about his
plan for attacking the Capitol with pipe bombs and shooting government
officials.
Cornell has been charged with attempted murder of
government officials and possession of a firearm in the furtherance of
attempted crime of violence and solicitation to commit a crime of
violence, which carry sentences of up to 20 years each if convicted