(CNN) For months, 20-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell had been on the FBI's radar. Authorities said he left alarming posts on social media, talking about violent jihad. 
 
 On Wednesday, agents arrested the Cincinnati man before he could put his alleged plot into action. 
 
 Authorities say Cornell, who ostensibly tweeted under the name Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, hatched a simple scheme. It was similar to the Paris attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, but at a key location -- the U.S. Capitol, said a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent. 
 
 The plan: Set off pipe bombs to put lawmakers and employees in panicked flight and then gun them down with an assault rifle as they ran across his path and that of an accomplice, Special Agent T.A. Staderman wrote. 
 
 Cornell was ready to go, the agent said. 
 
 Christopher Lee Cornell's mugshot from the Butler County Jail in Ohio. 
 
 He had made preparations with a partner. He had researched bomb-making instructions and by Wednesday, Cornell had bought two M-15 rifles with 600 rounds of ammunition. 
 
 But the man Cornell believed was his partner was actually an FBI informant, a man in trouble with the law who worked with the agency to improve his legal standing. 
 
 When they found out Cornell had the weapons, authorities made their move before Cornell could make his. A law enforcement official told CNN that there was never any danger to lawmakers. 
 
 Pounding on the door 
 
 Around lunchtime, more than a dozen agents and local police stood at his parents' house, where he had lived. 
 
 "We heard a pound on the door," John Cornell, Lee Cornell's father, told CNN's Anderson Cooper. Had he not opened it, they would have battered it in with a ram, he said. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Alleged Capitol plotter's father: He's a big mama's boy Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Alleged Capitol plotter's father: He's a big mama's boy 04:09 
 
 He had no idea why they were there, and the officers wouldn't tell him, he said. "They just told us they had a search warrant." 
 
 They took the whole family in for questioning. "Where is my son; what is he being charged with?" John Cornell wanted to know. 
 
 "They wouldn't tell us anything," he said. 
 
 The informant, the plan 
 
 In the fall, the informant told the FBI about someone he had been in touch with via Twitter, the criminal complaint said. 
 
 At the end of August, Cornell had allegedly written him an instant message saying the two of them should carry out a lone wolf attack as a way of supporting ISIS. 
 
 He didn't think ISIS or al Qaeda would give them an official sign-off, but he felt he didn't need it. 
 
 "... we already got a thumbs-up from the Brothers over there and Anwar al-Awlaki before his martyrdom and many others," Cornell allegedly wrote. 
 
 Al-Awlaki was a U.S.-born radical cleric associated with Yemen's al Qaeda arm. He was killed in a drone attack in 2011, but his legacy seems to have influence on would-be terrorists around the world. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Anwar al-Awlaki's influence on terrorism Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Anwar al-Awlaki's influence on terrorism 01:51 
 
 Cornell allegedly told the informant that he had been in contact with people overseas, and that he had aligned himself with ISIS. And he grew closer to the informant. 
 
 "I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves," Cornell allegedly messaged him. 
 
 Face to face 
 
 The two met twice in person in Cincinnati, the complaint said -- two days in October and two in November. Cornell researched how to build pipe bombs and saved up money to buy weapons and ammunition, the complaint read. 
 
 His father casts doubt on some aspects of the purchase. Cornell was unemployed and worked only seasonally for minimum wage. He was about $500 short of the money needed to make the purchase on his own. 
 
 "He had $1,287 saved up. These guns cost over $1,700," John Cornell said. He thinks someone else had to make up the difference and blames the FBI. He thinks his son was pushed into the plan. 
 
 Cornell wanted to make his "move" in December, the complaint said. He and the informant, posing as his partner, were to travel to Washington, scout out the Capitol and then detonate the bombs and open fire. 
 
 Cornell's journey 
 
 In middle school and high school, Cornell had been a wrestler, his father said. After graduation, he lived at home and was unemployed, not yet knowing what he wanted to do. "He very seldom left the house," John Cornell said. 
 
 "He's a big mama's boy, you know. His best friend is his kitty cat. There's no way he could have carried out any kind of terrorist plot," Cornell's father said. "He didn't even drive; he didn't have a car." 
 
 JUST WATCHED 'Heck no, there's no way my son was involved with ISIS' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 'Heck no, there's no way my son was involved with ISIS' 04:10 
 
 He had recently converted to Islam, which gave him inner peace, John Cornell said. 
 
 And he had apparently stopped cutting his beard. On his mugshot at the Butler County Jail, it's long and appears untrimmed. 
 
 But an ISIS follower? 
 
 "Heck no," John Cornell said. "There's no way my son was involved with ISIS." 
 
 Later, he told CNN: "I just want everyone to know that my son is not a monster. I'm not just saying that because he's my son. If I thought he was up to something, I would have beat his butt, and I would have been the first one to turn him in." 
 
 Cornell graduated from Oak Hills High School in 2012, where he was a "typical student," the school district said. 
 
 His teachers remember him as a quiet, but not too shy, student who participated in class. 
 
 "Christopher was not a disruption or a discipline problem in school," the school district said in a statement. "His teachers were shocked at the news of his involvement in this situation." 
 
 According to the local police chief, Cornell had never been in serious trouble before either. 
 
 He protested a ceremony in 2013 to commemorate the September 11, 2001, attacks, holding a sign that read "9/11 was an inside job," Green Township Police Department Chief Bart West told CNN. But he was not arrested or detained. 
 
 Cornell was also a person of interest in a case of vandalism in 2013, the chief said. Again, he was not charged. 
 
 A new friend? 
 
 Cornell made a friend on the Internet, his father believes, and posted comments in defense of Muslims. 
 
 "Chris may have said some things out of anger," John Cornell said. But he has a hard time believing his son encouraged armed jihad. 
 
 Once, after his son stayed out with a friend once for two hours, John Cornell asked him where he'd been. 
 
 "He said that he had went to a mosque," John Cornell said. 
 
 Then Chris moved out quietly. "I never seen him leave," his father said. 
 
 His son left him a note in his former bedroom. It said he had decided to move in with a friend, who had also offered him some work. 
 
 Since his son's arrest, he says he and his wife have not heard anything from officials about where Cornell is. They say they love their son more than ever, and that they are heartbroken. 
 
 "He may be facing life in prison," John Cornell said. "Do you know how devastating that is?" ||||| The Green Township terror suspect who allegedly plotted to attack the U.S. Capitol spoke with FOX19 NOW's Tricia Macke Thursday. However, one of Christopher Cornell's defense attorneys does not want the public to hear the hour-long interview and made a move Thursday night to block the story in a late night emergency hearing at the federal courthouse. 
 
 The Green Township terror suspect who allegedly plotted to attack the U.S. Capitol spoke with FOX19 NOW's Tricia Macke Thursday. However, one of Christopher Cornell's defense attorneys does not want the public to hear the hour-long interview and made a move Thursday night to block the story in a late night emergency hearing at the federal courthouse. 
 
 The Green Township terror suspect has opened up about his plot to attack the U.S. Capitol. 
 
 Christopher Cornell, 20, spoke from his jail cell on last Wednesday saying if he had a chance would have followed through with his plot to bomb the Capitol and would have put a gun to President Barack Obama's head. 
 
 "I would have released more bullets on the Senate and House of Representative members and I would have attacked the Israeli Embassy and various other buildings," Cornell said. 
 
 The Green Township native was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents outside the Point Blank Range and Gun shop on Harrison Avenue in Colerain Township after buying firearms and 600 rounds of ammunition on Jan. 14. 
 
 During the hour-long conversation with Tricia Macke, Cornell, 20, referred to himself as Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah. 
 
 "I'm with the Islamic State," Cornell said . "I'm very dedicated to establish the Sharia in America, to wage war on the kafr (an Islamic term for ‘unbeliever') and raise the word of Allah above all.""I'm so dedicated that I risked my whole life," Cornell said.Cornell is accused of plotting with an FBI informant to plan an attack in Washington, D.C. that included planting pipe bombs around the U.S. Capitol and the Israeli embassy with the intention of then shooting people as they ran from the buildings to escape the bombs.“The planned attack against the United States Capitol, the event in which I planned, was but a reaction to the continued American aggression, injustice and oppression against our people,” Cornell said in the interview.“I got orders from the brothers overseas because I'm with the Islamic State. My brothers over there, in Syria and Iraq, gave me specific orders to carry out jihad in the west, so I did so,” said Cornell.According to court documents, a confidential FBI source began to contact Cornell last August, who responded via instant message that he had been in contact with individuals overseas but he did not believe that he would receive authorization to conduct a terrorist attack in the United States.Cornell allegedly told the informant that they should go on with the attack."I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan an attack," Cornell allegedly told the informant, according to court documents.Cornell met with the FBI informant Oct. 17 and 18, and again Nov. 10 and 11. Federal authorities said he discussed how they would build, plant and detonate pipe bombs at the U.S Capitol. Then, he U.S. the informant would shoot and kill employees inside.Cornell showed the informant on his computer that he researched how to construct pipe bombs and the cost of the guns they would buy for the attack.According to court documents, under the name Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, Cornell posted videos and statements supporting ISIS and violent jihad in North America.University of Cincinnati's Dr. Richard Harknett, who heads the political science department and whose research includes international security, said Cornell comes across as credible.“I don't think there is any inconsistency in the way he responds to indicate that we shouldn't believe that in fact he was going to act on this,” said Harknett.Geoffrey Mearns, Northern Kentucky University President and former prosecutor in the Timothy McVeigh case, called Cornell a “lone wolf” and said this incident showed the power of social media and the ability convince someone to attack.Retired Colonel Larry C. James, Ph.D. agrees. From Guantanamo Bay to Abu Ghraib, the Army psychologist has delved into the minds of the world's most dangerous terrorists, and has years of experience interviewing terror suspects like Cornell.James said Cornell fits the mold of a homegrown terrorist who became radicalized through the internet, saying Cornell's admitted intent to harm fellow American citizens is what makes him a danger to society.Cornell said he didn't do this alone, and spoke about his alleged ties to leaders of the Islamic State in the interview, saying he spoke with other members overseas via an encrypted messaging service.“Talking about how we should raise Jihad in America. We should form groups and alliances with the Islamic State. When I say groups, I mean what you would call sleeper cells,” said Cornell.And Cornell said he believes there are more attacks to come.“What do I think is coming? Many things. There will be many, many attacks. Like I said, we are ready for the battle over the Capitol.”Cornell said there are others like him throughout the United States.“We are pretty strong. Yes, yes. In every state like I said. We're in Texas. We're in Ohio. We're in New York City. We're in Washington, DC. We're in every single state you can name, just about.”Cornell said he was fighting against “the continued American aggression against our people and the fact that America, specifically, President Obama, wants to wage war against the Islamic State.”“Yes, they might say I'm a terrorist, but we see the American troops as terrorists as well, coming to our lands, invading, stealing our resources and killing our people, raping our women,” said Cornell. “Have you seen the photos and videos of the innocent children being killed, bodies upon bodies, stacked inside the back of a truck? You know, that's what's happening to our kids. America is funding and giving weapons to Israel. Israel is using these weapons to kill our children in Palestine every single day.”Its words like those that have saddened Cornell's parents.Cornell's parents, John Cornell and Angel Carmen, no longer want their names associated with their son's after hearing portions of his interview, despite previously vigorously defending their son."Everybody is making him out to be a terrorist and they keep on calling him a terrorist. He is not a terrorist, he is a great person. He is a great son and I love him and I'm going to stick by him,” said Carmen at a hearing for Cornell in January.The day after Cornell's arrest, the two recalled a son with a normal, happy childhood."He had a great childhood. He had friends. He and his brother got along,” said Carmen on Jan. 15, the day after her son was arrested."I'm not saying my son is a saint. The only saints I know are in heaven,” John Cornell said.Three days after his arrest, Cornell appeared in a federal courtroom where his father yelled out, "Christopher, we love you. Don't trust anyone."Now it may be the father who no longer trusts his son.When John Cornell heard his son talk about what he would have done if he had not been arrested, Cornell's father admitted it was his son speaking and said, “The kid has totally lost his mind. If he wants to sink himself for life, then we need to move on.” 
 
 Cornell said his family knew he was Muslim but said they didn't know anything about his beliefs. 
 
 
 
 The charges 
 
 
 
 The 2012 Oak Hills High School graduate was indicted on three felony counts, including attempted murder of government employees and officials, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and possession of a firearm in furtherance of an attempted crime of violence. If found guilty, two of the charges carry 20 year-sentences and one carries a lifetime imprisonment. 
 
 
 
 Cornell plead not guilty on Jan. 21. He is expected back in court on those charges in April. 
 
 
 
 The defense's case might have changed though. 
 
 
 
 "The prosecution in this case got a lot easier. When this defendant made those taped admissions, that evidence is clearly admissible in court," said Mearns. 
 
 But Cornell said he is not afraid of any punishment he might receive. 
 
 "I'm not afraid of the punishment. You must understand this. The punishment I receive in here doesn't come close to the punishment that people like Barack Obama is going to face," Cornell said. 
 
 FOX19 NOW's Brad Hawley and Nathan Vicar contributed to this report. 
 
 Related: 
 
 Judge rules FOX19 NOW can air Cornell interview 
 
 Alleged terror suspect transferred to Boone Co. jail 
 
 Cornell's social media posts may have been red flag 
 
 Tri-State terror suspect pleads not guilty to three felony charges 
 
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– A 20-year-old Ohio man arrested yesterday stands accused of plotting to attack the US Capitol with pipe bombs and gunfire. As reported last night, Christopher Lee Cornell was undone by an FBI sting (an undercover operative connected with him after Cornell allegedly posted pro-terror-attack tweets). New details as of this morning, per CNN and USA Today: The alleged plan involved using pipe bombs to force those in the US Capitol to flee; Cornell and his partner were to be armed with assault rifles that would be used to take down officials and employees as they exited the building. The CEO of Cincinnati's Point Blank Range & Gun Shop says the FBI approached him about assisting them, and that store employees sold Cornell two "sporting rifles" and 600 rounds of ammunition yesterday at 11am. Cornell was arrested upon leaving the store. Cornell's "partner," the FBI informant, is described by CNN as "a man in trouble with the law who worked with the agency to improve his legal standing." The two met in person over two two-day periods in Cincinnati, in October and November. The attacks were to be carried out in support of ISIS, says the informant. Cornell's dad isn't buying the gun purchase story, noting that his son was an unemployed seasonal worker who "had $1,287 saved up. These guns cost over $1,700." In his view, the FBI may have provided him with the extra funds. (He does note that his son recently moved out of his house and in with a friend who was going to give him some work.) How dad describes Cornell: "He's a big mama's boy, you know. 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."