Officials have arrested a young man accused of planning to attack churches in his hometown of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
Eighteen-year-old Alexander Scott Mercurio was taken into custody on Saturday as authorities with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case, NBC News reported Tuesday.
The arrest came the day before he allegedly planned to attack people in church services on Sunday.
A black-and-white image shows the suspect:
The DOJ has charged 18-year-old Alexander Mercurio with providing material support to ISIS after at least three CHS's and an undercover helped him plan attacks on churches before the FBI arrested him.
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) April 9, 2024
Here, he poses with a flag given to him by a CHS in a photo taken by a CHS. pic.twitter.com/wA3kWGm6zc
In a press release on Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs said the suspect was charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated terrorist group.
If convicted of the alleged crime, Mercurio could face up to 20 years in federal prison:
According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Mercurio pledged his allegiance to ISIS and intended to commit attacks on its behalf. He planned to attack individuals at churches in Coeur d’Alene on April 7 using weapons, including knives, firearms, and fire.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) conducted the investigation and thwarted Mercurio’s violent plot. Mercurio is currently in custody awaiting his initial appearance which will be set by the Court.
Mercurio allegedly detailed the plot to target 21 churches in his area in a message sent to an FBI “confidential human source,” the NBC report said.
The suspect reportedly said he would “stop close by the church, equip the weapon(s) and storm the temple, kill as many people as possible before they inevitably disperse/scatter, then burn the temple to the ground and flee the scene.”
When officials arrested him at his residence, they discovered an ISIS flag, butane canisters, lighters, handcuffs, a knife, a pipe, a machete, and guns that belonged to his father.
“The FBI said it became aware of Mercurio during an investigation into a fundraising network that uses cryptocurrency and other platforms to support ISIS in Syria and its Afghan affiliate ISIS Wilayat Khorasan, known as ISIS-K,” the NBC article read, adding that investigators discovered that the young man and three others were giving money to an individual in Gaza.
According to 4 News Now, Mercurio issued a direct message to an online contact that said, “I don’t know how much longer I can take being here… I don’t have the desire to do anything except jihad. A craving for mayhem and terror”:
Before Easter, ISIS was urging Muslims to attack Christians and Jews around the world as Ramadan came to a close, Breitbart News reported on March 31.
“The directive was issued via Telegram by Islamic State spokesperson Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari, who also praised the recent deadly attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall music venue that saw at least 143 people killed by terrorists from ISIS-K,” the outlet said.
