(StraightNews.org) – The FBI has arrested an 18-year-old Idaho student for planning to attack churches, the Justice Department announced on April 9. Alexander Mercurio planned to commit violence against churchgoers in Coeur d’Alene on behalf of ISIS and was charged with providing material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
FBI investigations found that Murcurio devised a plan to incapacitate his father and steal his guns, which he would use to inflict maximum casualties at a Christian service in the northern Idaho city on April 7. FBI Director Christopher Wray said the teenager had pledged allegiance to ISIS and described his plot as “horrific.”
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force first became aware of Murcurio in 2022 after he expressed his extremist views on an online chat group. Initially, he wrote of his growing interest in Islamic fundamentalism and ISIS but later described a desire to carry out attacks in the US.
Federal agents secured a search warrant for Murcurio’s home as it became clear he was formulating a terror plot and found firearms, a machete, and butane in a locked closet.
According to an affidavit, the teenager wrote down his plans, saying he would “storm the temple” and kill as many people as possible before setting it alight. The teenager faces a 20-year prison term if convicted.
Several American young people have been arrested for supporting ISIS over the past decade, including Mateo Ventura last year. Ventura, from Massachusetts, was charged with knowingly concealing the source of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization after he attempted to sell gift cards to raise funds for the Islamic terror group.
Experts say teen support for ISIS peaked in the US in the mid-2010s when the group was at its height and ruled vast territory across Syria and Iraq. In 2015, US law enforcement agencies reported more than 250 Americans, including teenagers, left the US to fight for ISIS in the Middle East.
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