CNN
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The FBI arrested a person on Saturday after he allegedly made plans to assault church buildings in Idaho and pledged his allegiance to ISIS, the Justice Division stated.
Alexander Scott Mercurio, 18, was charged with trying to offer materials help or sources to a chosen overseas terrorist group, in keeping with a Justice Department news release. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Job Pressure performed the investigation.
Mercurio deliberate to assault church buildings in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on Sunday “utilizing weapons, together with knives, firearms, and fireplace,” in keeping with courtroom paperwork cited by the Justice Division.
Investigators imagine Mercurio’s alleged efforts to hold out an assault intensified following the March attack that killed 144 people at a live performance corridor advanced close to Moscow, in keeping with a US regulation enforcement official. Russian and US authorities have blamed an ISIS group for that assault.
“As alleged within the criticism, the defendant swore an oath of loyalty to ISIS and deliberate to wage an assault in its title on church buildings in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,” Lawyer Common Merrick Garland stated within the launch.
“Due to the investigative efforts of the FBI, the defendant was taken into custody earlier than he might act, and he’s now charged with trying to help ISIS’s mission of terror and violence,” he added.
CNN couldn’t instantly determine an legal professional for Mercurio.
In response to courtroom paperwork, Mercurio had on-line and in-person conferences with a confidential supply working with the FBI and “proceeded to specific his help for terrorist organizations, particularly ISIS.”
He deliberate to assault a church on April 7, 2024, which he chosen in order that it could happen earlier than the conclusion of Ramadan, FBI Job Pressure officer John Taylor stated in an affidavit.
Mercurio, in keeping with courtroom paperwork, allegedly introduced butane canisters, a metallic pipe, and likewise deliberate to “hurt his father and purchase firearms” to make use of within the assault. Days earlier than the deliberate assault, he recorded an announcement pledging his allegiance to ISIS.
Within the video, Mercurio is seen holding a knife in entrance of an ISIS flag, courtroom paperwork stated.
Throughout a search of his mother and father’ residence, police discovered “objects constant along with his deliberate assault,” courtroom paperwork acknowledged. A number of the objects present in a toolbox included a “metallic pipe, handcuffs, folding noticed, head coverings, two cannisters of butane gasoline, and machete.” A number of rifles and handguns have been additionally found in his father’s bed room.
Mercurio “acknowledged he supposed to incapacitate his father with a pipe, handcuff him, and use the firearms locked within the closet to assault the church,” courtroom paperwork say.
He faces a most penalty of 20 years in federal jail if convicted, in keeping with the Justice Division. He’s presently in custody awaiting his preliminary courtroom look.
“This case must be an eye-opener to the risks of self-radicalization, which is an actual menace to our communities,” stated Particular Agent in Cost Shohini Sinha of the Salt Lake Metropolis FBI.
CNN’s Rashard Rose, Melissa Alonso, Evan Perez and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.