The FBI thwarted a teenager’s alleged plans to carry out a suicide attack on a church in the name of Islamic State.
Alexander Scott Mercurio, 18, is facing federal charges of attempting to provide material support and resources to the group, the justice department said on Monday. He was arrested in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after an investigation by the bureau’s joint terrorism task force.
According to an affidavit for his arrest, Mercurio plotted to assault his father and steal his firearms to carry out a suicide attack at a local church. He intended to use explosives, knives, a machete, a pipe and guns in an attack planned for April 7, the authorities said. He allegedly chose that date because it was before the end of Ramadan.
The teenager first caught the bureau’s attention when it tracked financial donations he made to Isis-affiliated individuals in 2021, the authorities said. He is also accused of participating in group chats where he pledged his allegiance to the group, and of making an oath of loyalty the day before the planned attack.
US marshals and local police raided Mercurio’s home on Saturday and found items similar to those he planned to use in the attack, including butane canisters, lighters and weapons registered to his father. An Isis flag was also seized from his bedroom.
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“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,” Merrick Garland, the attorney-general, said in a statement. “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 faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted. The Times has contacted his attorney for comment.
Last month, Biden administration officials said that they had warned Russia about security threats before a terrorist attack left more than 140 people dead at a concert hall in Moscow. The Islamic State has since claimed responsibility for the tragedy.
Across Europe, officials have tightened security for the Uefa Champions League games in London, Paris and Madrid, after Isis threatened several venues.
