The FBI has arrested an 18-year-old Idaho man and recent convert to Islam for planning attacks against multiple churches on behalf of the Islamic State.
"Alexander Scott Mercurio, 18, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was arrested Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Coeur d’Alene for attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS," the Department of Justice released late Monday night. "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."
FBI Director Christopher Wray is calling the plans "truly horrific."
“The defendant allegedly pledged loyalty to ISIS and sought to attack people attending churches in Idaho, a truly horrific plan which was detected and thwarted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force,” Wray said. “This investigation demonstrates the FBI’s steadfast commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to stop those who wish to commit acts of violence on behalf of – or inspired by – foreign terrorist groups.”
From the complaint:
This case began when MERCURIO reached out to confidential human sources online and indicated his support for ISIS and terrorist organizations, more generally. The FBI was able to work with a confidential human source (CHS) who met with MERCURIO in person. MERCURIO proceeded to express support for terrorist organizations, specifically ISIS, online and in-person. MERCURIO spread ISIS propaganda online and solicited ISIS's involvement in and approval of his propaganda efforts, discussed travelling from the United States to join ISIS, considered and planned ways to support ISIS financially, and most recently, set forth on a plan to assault his father with a metal pipe, acquire his father's firearms, and attack a local church. At the beginning of 2024, his conduct escalated to MERCURIO planning to carry out a suicide attack on a church(es) in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. His attack plan involved using flame-covered weapons, explosives, knives, a machete, a pipe, and ultimately firearms. His plan grew more precise as he eventually identified the specific church and date on which he planned to attack.
MERCURIO planned to attack the church on April 7, 2024, a date intentionally selected by him so his attack would occur before the end of Ramadan. As the date drew near, MERCURIO devised a plan to incapacitate his father, restrain him using handcuffs, and steal his firearms to use for maximum casualties in his attack.
MERCURIO purchased items consistent with his planned attack; this included butane canisters and a metal pipe. In planning the attack, MERCURIO made a ba'yah statement, pledging his allegiance to ISIS and stating his intention to die while killing others on behalf of ISIS. MERCURIO transmitted that statement on April 6, 2024, consistent with a prior representation where he claimed he would transmit the statement a day or so prior to the attack. He planned the attack for April 7, 2024. Law enforcement thwarted MERCURIO's plans before, according to MERCURIO's timeline, he could harm his father and acquire firearms. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on his house and upon his person. At MERCURIO's house, law enforcement found items consistent with his planned attack (butane canisters, lighters, a pair of handcuffs, a knife, a pipe, and a machete).
Law enforcement also found several firearms in MERCURIO's father's possession, stored as MERCURIO represented in his plans. Also, law enforcement found an ISIS flag in MERCURIO's bedroom.
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