Terror suspect's road from suburbs to 'violent jihad'
Carrie Blackmore Smith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the latest on Christopher Cornell, the 20-year-old Green Township man accused of planning an ISIL-inspired attack on the Capitol. The Cincinnati EnquirerCornell(Photo: Provided)CINCINNATI — Christopher Cornell's search for a purpose to his life began soon after he collected his diploma in 2012 at Oak Hills High School's graduation ceremony.It ended Wednesday morning, face-down in the asphalt of a gun shop's parking lot, when FBI agents tackled him, dragged him to a car and charged him with plotting to wage violent "jihad" on the U.S. Capitol in solidarity with Islamic extremists.How and why Cornell so quickly traveled the path from suburban high school grad to heavily armed terror suspect is a mystery federal investigators still are trying to unravel. The news stunned his family and former teachers and was a jarring reminder to neighbors in Green Township that zealots inspired to commit deadly acts don't just live in faraway war zones.They might live in Ohio, too."Why not? What makes us immune to that sort of thing?" said Ed Bridgeman, a criminal justice professor at the University of Cincinnati. "Just because someone grows up in a poor Muslim enclave, we assume that person is ripe for radicalization. They could be here, living in mom's basement, thinking 'nobody loves me, everybody hates me.'"Cornell, 20, isn't talking, at least not publicly, but details from the past few years of his life suggest he was a young man so immersed in radical Islam that he grew a traditional beard, spoke in a Middle Eastern accent, watched violent jihadist videos online and, according to the FBI, sent messages via Twitter and Instagram advocating attacks against Americans.In addition to his exposure to radical Islam online, Cornell appears to have gotten a dose of anti-government rhetoric at home. His father, John Cornell, espoused conspiracy theories in an interview with The Enquirer, opining about the influence of the Illuminati and claiming the Catholic Church is involved in drug trafficking. He said he doesn't believe his son will get a fair shake from the FBI or the federal courts."He isn't going to get any justice," John Cornell said. "I have no faith in this country."He said his son spent the past few years trying to find himself, experimenting with politics, religion and lifestyle changes. He tried becoming a vegetarian, embraced conspiracies about the 9/11 terrorist attacks and later called himself an "anarchist." Eventually, according to the FBI, he developed a strong interest in radical Islam.In 2013, police say, Cornell showed up at a Green Township memorial service for victims of 9/11. He stood silently and carried a sign that read, "9/11 was an inside job.""We were aware of him," said Green Township Police Lt. Mitch Hill.At some point in the past six months, the FBI also became aware of Cornell.An affidavit from an FBI counter-terrorism agent indicates the agency obtained electronic communications from Cornell over several months and that a confidential informant fed them details about his activities. House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that federal investigators relied on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which gives law enforcement broad surveillance powers in potential terrorism cases."Our government does not spy on Americans unless they're Americans who are doing things that, frankly, tip off our law enforcement officials to an imminent threat," Boehner said. "It was our law enforcement officials and those programs that helped us stop this person before he committed a heinous crime."Sometime last year, Cornell began using the name Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah and posted pro-jihadist videos supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the radical group known as ISIL that now is the target of U.S. air strikes in Syria and Iraq."I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything," Cornell wrote in an Aug. 29 instant message, the FBI says.It's unclear, however, whether anyone other than the FBI and the agency's informant was listening to Cornell. Court documents give no indication he had any ties to actual terrorists overseas or that he might have been working with anyone else.In many respects, his conversion and alleged radicalization appears to have occurred in isolation. His father, who described his son as a peace-loving "momma's boy," and at least one neighbor say Cornell spent most of his time in the family's Green Township apartment, playing video games or exploring the Internet.The neighbor, Sue Rowin, lives across the hall from the Cornells and said he rarely spoke, other than to say "hi" when passing in the hall. She described him as shy and socially awkward."He would have been easily drawn in, probably by anyone," Rowin said."He was not a menacing individual. He was not aggressive. There really wasn't anything to be afraid of that I could see."Cornell seems to have had few friends, save for his pet cat, Mikey. And despite his outward devotion to Islam, which included growing a beard and wearing traditional Muslim head dress, it's unclear if he regularly attended prayer services at a mosque.The leaders of several local mosques said Thursday they did not know him. His father said Cornell attended the small Masjid Abubakr Siddique mosque in South Fairmount, but more than a half dozen members there said Thursday they'd never seen him."I've never met him," said Tamba Traore. "We don't know him."Whatever Cornell had been doing for the past few months, federal investigators had been content to watch and listen until Wednesday morning. That's when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives showed up at the Point Blank Range & Gun shop on Harrison Avenue.They'd contacted the gun shop before, along with others in the area, to warn them a person they were watching might one day try to buy a weapon there. On Wednesday, they told store manager John Dean that time had come.They said Cornell would arrive in minutes and they would likely make an arrest.The approach is unusual for federal agents, who typically obtain an indictment or at least a criminal complaint against someone before making an arrest. In this case, court records show, the complaint was filed a few hours after Cornell's arrest.A former FBI agent, who spoke on condition he would not be named, said that suggests agents were worried about an "imminent threat" from Cornell, probably because he was about to purchase two semi-automatic rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition. "When agents see a guy they've been following around go into a gun shop, that would raise their antennae significantly," the former agent said.Dean, the gun shop manager, said Cornell was calm when he entered the store and did not seem to know much about guns."He was not a menacing individual. He was not aggressive," Dean said. "There really wasn't anything to be afraid of that I could see." John Dean, manager of Point Blank Range and Gun Shop in Colerain Township, Ohio, talks about the experience of selling guns and ammunition to Christopher Cornell, the accused terrorist, moments before he was taken down by the FBI. The Cincinnati EnquirerHow dangerous Cornell may, or may not, really be won't be clear for days or weeks. The FBI declined comment Thursday and much of what the agency knows won't be revealed until the court case progresses.Cornell is expected in federal court in Cincinnati for a detention hearing Friday and will return next week for a preliminary hearing.For now, Cornell is housed in an isolation unit at the Butler County jail. Sheriff Richard Jones said Cornell is speaking with a Middle Eastern accent and has asked for a clock, so he can pray at the proper times."He's a different kind of individual," Jones said.Contributing: Patrick Brennan, Michael Clark, Kurt Backscheider and Deirdre Shesgreen, The Cincinnati EnquirerWithout a net, a look at death defying stuntsJan 15, 2015
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