Terrorism expert: Parents need to take control

He said parents should push their children into extra-curricular activities, take control of their homes through discipline, and be hyper vigilant about their child’s safety.

Otherwise, he said, that child could be introduced to “the wrong person who would take them down the wrong road.”

Children who are less busy are more venerable to possible terrorists because they spend too much time on the Internet, surfing chat rooms, said James, keynote speaker at Thursday’s Chamber of Commerce Serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton luncheon.

“They are a target,” he said.

Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, of Green Twp. in Hamilton County, was arrested on charges that he was planning to attack the U.S. Capitol with a semi-automatic rifle and kill as many government officials on Capitol Hill as possible. He was arrested after the FBI said he bought two M-15 semi-automatic rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition from a Colerain Twp. gun shop.

According to court documents, the FBI began investigating Cornell after a confidential informant reported social media activity beginning this past summer that allegedly included statements, videos and other content expressing support for the terror group ISIS and for violent jihad.

He met with the FBI confidential source on Oct. 17 and 18 in Cincinnati to discuss the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and told the informant he needed weapons and had wanted to “move” in December.

James called Cornell “the average red-blooded American boy.”

Then he showed a picture of Cornell in his high school wrestling uniform, then a picture after he was arrested, when his appearance, and his accent, changed dramatically. James said the “million-dollar question” is why he change so drastically in less than 18 months.

James, president and CEO of the Wright Behavioral Health Group and a professor at Wright State University, said he has studied every mass attack in the United States the last 60 years. All of them, he said, are linked with one or more of the following: It was a terrorist attack, the shooter suffered from a mental illness, a love triangle was involved, or the shooter was disgruntled with their employer.

He said parents and employers should watch out for “significant behavior changes” as signs of potential violence.

Those who are contacted by terrorist recruiters typically show signs of: being lost, having no sense of belonging or the future, having no wife or girlfriend, having no meaningful employment, being angry at the government, suffering from strained logic, having a sudden change in faith, or being preoccupied with weapons, he said.

All of these signs, when combined, can be “very, very toxic,” he said.