--- description: Cornell planned to detonate a pipe bomb and fire shots at government employees, federal agents say title: Ohio Man Indicted for Plot to Attack U.S. Capitol image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ohio Man Indicted for Plot to Attack U.S. Capitol by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 21, 2015 8:53 PM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 21, 2015 8:53 PM CUT A federal grand jury in Ohio has [indicted](http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/cincinnatii-area-man-indicted-plot-attack-us-government-officers "undefined") a man accused of plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol by detonating pipe bombs and shooting government officials. Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, was charged with attempting to kill government employees, solicitation to commit a crime and possession of a firearm, the Justice Department said in a statement. The first two charges are punishable by 20 years in prison while the third charge can bring 5 years in prison. He was arrested [Jan. 14](http://time.com/3668535/ohio-man-christopher-cornell-terror-plot/ "undefined") outside a gun shop after having come onto federal agents radar over the summer for suspicious postings on social media, in which he sought help to carry out an attack inspired by the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria. In subsequent court documents, the Associated Press [reports](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b9606e3e60ca4dbe9928a7dbee8b9078/grand-jury-indicts-ohio-man-held-capitol-terror-plot "undefined"), the FBI said Cornell had planned to “wage jihad”; he had been interacting with an FBI informant for months while agents carried out their investigation. Cornell’s father has said his son didn’t have the means to carry out a violent attack and believes he was coerced by the informant. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3677236/ohio-man-us-capitol-plot-indictment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3677236/ohio-man-us-capitol-plot-indictment/"},"headline":"Ohio Man Indicted for Plot to Attack U.S. Capitol","datePublished":"2015-01-21T20:53:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:45:46.053Z","description":"Christopher Lee Cornell has been charged with attempted to kill officers of the government and other violent crimes","url":"https://time.com/3677236/ohio-man-us-capitol-plot-indictment/","keywords":["Crime","justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3677236/ohio-man-us-capitol-plot-indictment/","name":"Ohio Man Indicted for Plot to Attack U.S. Capitol"}}]}] ```