Washington — An 18-year-old from Idaho was arrested Saturday and charged with plotting to kill churchgoers in his town in the name of ISISaccording to court documents released Monday.
Alexander Mercurio was charged in a criminal complaint with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He remains in custody and has not entered a plea, according to court records.
Investigators say Mercurio was about to attack at least one church in his area on April 7 – a Sunday – with guns, knives and flammable chemicals, but they said they foiled it. his plans before he can put his plan into action.
Mercurio is accused of writing to an anonymous FBI source that he was to “stop near the church, equip weapons and storm the temple, killing as many people as possible.” His goal, according to investigators, was to commit an act of martyrdom before the end of Ramadan – the holy month observed peacefully by practitioners of Islam around the world and which emphasizes prayer and fasting – and to pledge allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State.
“I will very soon carry out a martyrdom operation,” he reportedly wrote in a recent message. “The targets will be the various churches in my town.”
In newly released court documents, prosecutors described a shift in beliefs beginning in 2022, when posts and messages allegedly revealed the teen’s interest in ISIS and his parents’ apparent dissatisfaction with it. with regard to his religious beliefs. He stored media on his electronic devices, including a jihadist chant, investigators said, and posted pro-ISIS material online.
Court documents revealed that Mercurio also allegedly told members of a terrorist-affiliated group that he had previously been in contact with an individual who was later arrested for providing financial support to the terrorist group.
Earlier this year, he met several times with a confidential FBI source and reiterated his desire to die a martyr. In meetings and via online messages, Mercurio reportedly revealed that he planned to “give every last cent of his bank to the state (ISIS)” and that he wanted to film a video message of support for ISIS before carrying out its attack.
“I really want an operation,” he said recently, according to investigators, and at another time he told a confidential FBI source that he wanted to “fix” what he considered to be too much large number of churches in his region.
His plan, prosecutors say, included attacking his father with a metal pipe, stealing his guns and using them in the attack. Other elements allegedly included using chemicals like hand sanitizer or butane to destroy the churches he targeted.
Charging documents allege that on April 3, Mercurio declared his allegiance to the ISIS leader, holding a knife and taking a photo in front of a flag flown by the terrorist organization.
When asked by a confidential FBI source on April 5 if he would postpone his plans, prosecutors said Mercurio said no, court records describe.
The FBI executed a search warrant at his family’s home and arrested Mercurio on Saturday, a day before he announced his intention to carry out the attack. Investigators seized a metal pipe, butane, hand sanitizer, a machete and several firearms locked in his father’s closet.
“The defendant swore an oath of loyalty to ISIS and planned to carry out an attack in its name against churches in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the Mercruio’s arrest on Monday. “Thanks to the investigative efforts of the FBI, the defendant was arrested before he could act.”
The defendant’s lawyer could not immediately be identified.
The accusations come just days after federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies across the country, warning them of ” possible threats to public gatherings in the United States from threat actors” inspired by last month’s deadly terrorist attack on a Russian concert hall. ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the massacre which left more than 100 people dead.
Last week’s newsletter obtained by CBS News did not offer details, but noted that “ISIS-aligned media groups have published messages encouraging attacks on other mass gatherings.”
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