Terrorism suspect says he would’ve shot Obama

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

A man accused of plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol called a television station from jail and said if he hadn’t been arrested he would have gone to Washington and shot President Barack Obama in the head.

WXIX-TV in Cincinnati said Christopher Lee Cornell called it from the Kentucky jail where he’s being held, confessed to being a supporter of the Islamic State group and said he planned to kill government officials in retaliation for U.S. strikes on the terror group.

The station aired part of the interview Friday night, hours after Cornell’s attorney argued unsuccessfully in court that it could violate his right to a fair trial.

Cornell, asked by the interviewer what he would have done had he not been arrested in January, said he would have taken one of his guns, “I would have put it to Obama’s head, I would have pulled the trigger, then I would unleash more bullets on the Senate and House of Representative members, and I would have attacked the Israeli embassy and various other buildings.”

Cornell, who repeatedly identified himself as Muslim, said he wanted to carry out the attack because of “the continued American aggression against our people and the fact that America, specifically President Obama, wants to wage war against Islamic State.”