An 18-year-old man in Idaho was arrested on Saturday after he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) and planned attacks against individuals and churches, the Justice Department said on Monday.
Alexander Scott Mercurio of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was arrested for “attempting to provide material support and resources for ISIS,” the Justice Department 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 noted in a statement.
“The case should be an eye-opener to the dangers of self-radicalization, which is a real threat to our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Shohini Sinha of the Salt Lake City FBI.
Mercurio faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
Investigators believe his efforts to stage an attack intensified after the massacre at a concert hall near Moscow, which was claimed by ISIS-Khorasan.
CNN cited court documents that Mercurio had online and in-person meetings with a source working for the FBI, where he showed support for ISIS.
An FBI Task Force officer said Mercurio planned to attack a church before the end of Ramadan.
He allegedly brought butane canisters and a pipe to attack his father so that he could obtain firearms to use in the attack, according to CNN.
Mercurio recorded a video where he pledged allegiance to ISIS while holding a knife in front of the ISIS flag and a search of his parents’ home revealed items consistent with planning an attack.
