CINCINNATI (Reuters)–An Ohio man pleaded guilty on Monday to charges he plotted to attack the U.S. Capitol with guns and bombs and that he sympathized with Islamic State militants.
In an appearance in federal court in Cincinnati, Christopher Cornell, 22, shackled and dressed in black-and-white striped jail clothes, admitted to the charges of attempted murder of government officials, possession of a firearm to commit a crime, and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Cornell, who mainly answered the judge’s questions with “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am,” faces up to 30 years in prison and a lifetime of supervision, according to officials at the hearing.
Cornell, of Green Township, Ohio, near Cincinnati was arrested in January 2015 and accused of planning to travel to Washington to attack the U.S. Capitol during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Jan. 20, 2015, prosecutors said, citing the plea agreement.