The Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested an Idaho teenager after he allegedly planned to attack Christian churches during Ramadan.
Alexander Scott Mercurio, 18, “pledged his allegiance to ISIS and intended to commit attacks on its behalf,” according to a press release.
“As alleged in the complaint, the defendant swore an oath of loyalty to ISIS and planned to wage an attack in its name on churches in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,” 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.”
“Mercurio is charged by a federal complaint with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization,” the press release adds. “If convicted, Mercurio faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.”
Mercurio’s plan allegedly read, “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.”
These actions were planned against 21 churches.
According to court documents, Mercurio’s plan would have involved “involved using flame-covered weapons, explosives, knives, a machete, a pipe, and ultimately firearms.”
In February, a Minnesota man was charged with providing and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The documents claim that Harafa Hussein Abdi, 41, joined and trained with ISIS in Somalia and that he encouraged others to join.
“As alleged in the complaint, Abdi, moved from Minnesota to Somalia in 2015,” the Justice Department said in a press release Friday. “Once there, he joined a group of ISIS fighters at an ISIS training camp in the Puntland region of Somalia.”
