The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested an Idaho teen on Saturday, April 6, who the agency said had been planning an ISIS-inspired terror attack on churches in his hometown in northern Idaho. Prosecutors said 18-year-old Alexander Mercurio detailed how he would kill churchgoers on Sunday, April 14.
The FBI said Mercurio told a confidential informant that he wanted to hit all 21 churches in the area using knives, guns and fire. Mercurio reportedly told the source that he pledged allegiance to ISIS and had provided material support to the terrorist organization.
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To carry out his plot, investigators said Mercurio planned to first immobilize his father with a metal pipe then take his firearms and head to local church. Mercurio’s target date for the attack was reportedly on Sunday, April 7. According to investigators, Mercurio was timing the attack to coincide with the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Officers said they found an ISIS flag, butane canisters, handcuffs, a knife, a pipe, a machete and several guns belonging to Mercurio’s father at his house.
The FBI reports it first learned of Mercurio during an investigation into a fundraising network using cryptocurrency and other platforms to support ISIS in Syria and its Afghan affiliate, ISIS-K.
In addition, the FBI said that Mercurio along with three others, who were not identified, financially supported someone only known as “Individual 2” in Gaza.
FBI Director Christopher Wray called Mercurio’s plot “a truly horrific plan.” If convicted, Mercurio faces up to 20 years in prison.
The latest arrest comes after a joint intelligence bulletin warning of possible threats to public gatherings in the United States. It specifically mentioned “lone wolf extremists” inspired by ISIS-K’s attack at a Moscow concert hall, which killed at least 144 people.
An official statement from ISIS-K said that the group planned attacks similar to those in Moscow in the U.S. In March, Wray said that since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza on Oct. 7, the terrorism threat has reached a “whole other level” in the United States.
