An Idaho teenager who was allegedly planning an attack on churches in the name of Islamic State has been arrested.
Last Saturday, federal authorities arrested 18-year-old Alexander Scott Mercurio of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, a day before his alleged planned attack on churches in the city using weapons including knives, firearms and fire.
The federal investigation into Mercurio began when he allegedly reached out to confidential human sources online and indicated his support for IS, according to a criminal complaint. Unbeknown to him, Mercurio detailed his support to an FBI informant. In addition to spreading IS propaganda online, Mercurio allegedly solicited the terror organization’s involvement in and approval of his propaganda efforts, as well as discussed traveling from the US to join IS.
In what federal authorities believe to be an online message from Mercurio to a group chat on an “encrypted social media and mobile messaging electronic communication service”, the teenager allegedly wrote in October 2022: “I’m 17 in USA…I know I try to keep secret, I’m in north Idaho very Christian and conservative parents are mad cause I’m not shaving beard and not letting pants go below ankle.”
Mercurio also allegedly wrote: “Okay brother it was calm for a couple days, now its serious. They’re sending me to in person school again more therapy more stuff like that etc etc probably not coming back anytime soon. Obviously make dua, tell brothers, etc. Im in for the long haul. I gotta keep my Iman firm, no matter what. They may even send me to a ‘youth program’ (ship me off hundreds of miles to force me to ‘behave’) etv etc. Kinda scared but In Sha Allah everything will be okay, goodbye brother.”
In addition to his alleged online messages, federal authorities also found “numerous files confirming Mercurio’s commitment to IS and its ideology” on his school-issued laptop. Those files allegedly include a picture of him wearing a black balaclava and holding up the number one finger, a gesture commonly used by IS supporters, as well as documents concerning the Norwegian neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Breivik, US school massacres, the suicide epidemic in Japan and Korea, as well as austerity suicides in Europe.
Mercurio also allegedly considered and planned ways to support IS financially. He is accused of planning to assault his father with a metal pipe, acquire his father’s firearms and attack up to approximately 21 churches.
The criminal complaint reveals that at the beginning of this year, Mercurio allegedly planned to carry out his suicide attack on a church in Coeur d’Alene on 7 April, a date “intentionally selected by him so his attack would occur before the end of Ramadan”.
The complaint also says his plan involved using “flame-covered weapons”, explosives, knives, a machete, a pipe and firearms. As the date of his planned attack drew near, Mercurio also allegedly devised a plan to incapacitate his father, restrain him with handcuffs and steal his firearms “to use for maximum casualties in his attack”.
In planning the attack, Mercurio also allegedly made a ba’yah, or an Islamic pledge of allegiance, to IS and stated his intention to die while killing others in the name of the terror organization.
In a statement released following Mercurio’s arrest, the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said: “Thanks to the investigative efforts of the FBI, the defendant was taken into custody before he could act, and he is now charged with attempting to support Isis’s mission of terror and violence. The justice department will continue to relentlessly pursue, disrupt, and hold accountable those who would commit acts of terrorism against the people and interests of the United States.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Shohini Sinha, special agent in charge of the Salt Lake City FBI, said: “This case should be an eye-opener to the dangers of self-radicalization, which is a real threat to our communities. Protecting the American people from terrorism remains the FBI’s number one priority, and we continue to encourage the public to report anything suspicious to the FBI or your local law enforcement.”
Mercurio is charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. If convicted, Mercurio faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
