Judge sets competency hearing for Ohio man charged in US Capitol plot

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal judge has scheduled a competency hearing April 18 for an Ohio man charged with plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith last November ordered a mental evaluation of 21-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. He was taken to a federal facility in Chicago.

Cornell’s attorneys have said there’s “reasonable cause” to question his competency.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges he planned to attack the Capitol with pipe bombs and guns in support of the Islamic State group.

His father has said he was misled and coerced by “a snitch.”

Cornell has been jailed without bond since his Jan. 14, 2015, arrest by the FBI in a gun shop parking lot just west of Cincinnati.