FBI agents foiled an Ohio man's plan to attack Washington D.C., specifically the U.S. Capitol, with the intent of killing lawmakers and other U.S. officials on Thursday. The FBI arrested the man, identified as Christopher Lee Cornell, for planning to orchestrate this attack after being inspired by al-Qaeda.

The FBI and Department of Justice released a statement explaining that Cornell, 20, was arrested on Thursday for plotting a terrorist attack in the U.S. Cornell, of Green Township, Ohio, had firearms and ammunition in his possession when arrested.

The Cincinnati Division of the FBI in the statement credited the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, praising the Cincinnati Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other local law enforcement agencies for the arrest.

According to the criminal complaint filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Cornell, who used the alias Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, was cited for the attempted killings of U.S. government officials and the possession of firearms "in furtherance of attempted crime of violence."

Special Agent T.A. Staderman explains in the affidavit the FBI began investigating Cornell in the fall of 2014 after a Confidential Human Source (CHS) approached them about Cornell's suspicious behavior on social media. The CHS said Cornell had established Twitter accounts under his alias in the summer of 2014 and began posting "statements, videos, and other content indicating support for ISIL," according to the affidavit, using another acronym for ISIS, the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria. Cornell had also expressed support for conducting violent attacks on American soil.

The CHS began interacting through Twitter and later on an unnamed instant messaging platform in August of that year.

Cornell reiterated his support for terrorist attacks within the U.S., and the two met in mid-October.

"I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves," said the informant, according to court documents, adding that they had already received approval from the now deceased al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki.

In their first meeting, the two became acquainted and further discussed how attacks within the U.S. could be their show of support for ISIS.

In their second meeting a month later, Cornell revealed more of his plan, explaining how U.S. lawmakers were the enemy and how they should attack the Capitol. He then proceeded to show CHS on his computer his research on federal buildings in the capital as well as instructions on how to build pipe bombs and the cost of ingredients for said weapons as well as firearms.

A day before his arrest, Cornell discussed with the informant his plans to attack the capital city. On Jan. 14 he went to a local gun store and purchased 600 rounds of ammunition as well as two M-15 semi-automatic rifles.

Following his purchase, FBI agents arrested Cornell.

This is the latest arrest concerning attacks against lawmakers. Earlier this week an Ohio bartender threatened to assassinated Speaker John Boehner.

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