U.S. Federal Police Arrests Man for Planning Attack on Congress

On Wednesday, January 24, the FBI arrested a 20-year-old man in Ohio for allegedly planning an attack on the Congress building and killing U.S. officials. According to the Associated Press, the man is named Christopher Lee Cornell, also known as Raheel Mahrous Abideh. The FBI stated that Mr. Cornell (Mahrous) had informed an FBI informant of his decision for 'jihad' and had expressed his support for the Islamic State (ISIS). He had been under surveillance by security agencies for a long time until he was arrested after purchasing two M15 rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition to make pipe bombs. John Barrios, an FBI official in Ohio, said that despite Mr. Cornell's (Mahrous) actions, the public was not in danger. Court documents indicate that this 20-year-old man told the FBI informant in a message that they should form a group of their own but 'in alliance with the Islamic State.' The two met once in October and again in November, during which Mr. Cornell (Mahrous) told the FBI informant that he planned to attack the Congress building. The arrest of this 20-year-old man in Ohio comes just days after another man in the same state was accused of attempting to kill John Boehner, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Michael Hoyt, a bartender at a recreational club, allegedly intended to kill the influential Republican Speaker of the House by poisoning his drink. Michael Hoyt has a history of mental illness.