The father of a man arrested for plotting an attack against the U.S. Capitol insisted that his son is innocent during an appearance on CNN.
“He’s a big mama’s boy, you know,” John Cornell told host Anderson Cooper. “His best friend is his kitty cat. There’s no way he could have carried out any kind of terrorist plot…He didn’t even drive; he didn’t have a car.”
Mr. Cornell’s son, Christopher, was arrested Wednesday and charged with plotting an attack against the U.S. Capitol. The Cincinnati-area resident had caught the attention of the FBI after posting messages on Twitter in support of terrorism.
But the elder Cornell believes his son is being set up, and said there was no way Christopher could have bought the pair of M-15 semiautomatic rifles the FBI confiscated.
“He had $1,287 saved up,” Mr. Cornell said. “These guns cost over $1,700.”
An FBI informant who communicated with Christopher Cornell gave law enforcement several messages the young man sent, according to the criminal complaint.
“I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything,” one alleged note from Christopher Cornell said.
But his father said converting to Islam brought his son peace, and that he didn’t actually mean the things he said.
“Chris may have said some things out of anger,” Mr. Cornell told CNN. “There’s no way my son was involved with ISIS.”
Mr. Cornell also said he didn’t know when his son moved out to go live with a friend, only receiving a note the younger Cornell had left in his former bedroom.
“I never seen him leave,” Mr. Cornell said.
• Phillip Swarts can be reached at pswarts@washingtontimes.com.
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