TerrorismMass. man arrested for planning ISIS-inspired attack on a college campus

Alexander Ciccolo, 23, who is also known as Ali Al Amriki, was arrested by the FBI for planning to carry out an Islamic State-inspired attack on one or two Boston college campuses, using guns and improvised explosives, including a pressure-cooker bomb like the ones used in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Ciccolo was arrested after he took a delivery of four guns on 4 July.

He was under surveillance by law enforcement since September, when his father, a Boston police captain, alerted federal authorities about his son’s growing infatuation with Islam and the Islamic State.

“Ciccolo said that he wanted to use pressure cookers to make a big explosion,” according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in the case. “He said that the Boston Marathon bombing gave him the idea of what to do, using the same materials and emptying fireworks into a pressure cooker.”

The Boston Herald reports that Ciccolo, who had bought a pressure cooker, had discussed targeting a police station, according to court records, but shifted his attention to a university because more people would be around. He told a cooperating witness that his attack would be concentrated on dormitories and a cafeteria, according to court documents, “and would include executions of students broadcast live via the Internet.”

The FBI says it is not clear which Boston university or universities Ciccolo was targeting. One court document described the plot as focusing on a “State University.”

Ciccolo is the son of Boston Police Captain Robert Ciccolo. The 27-year veteran of the force notified authorities after he had a conversation with his son several months ago.

“He was afraid for what the son was about to do, and took it upon himself to notify the FBI,” the official said.

The official said the son moved out to Adams, in Western Massachusetts, in his late teens.

In a statement on the Boston Police Department Web site, family members said they were “saddened and disappointed to learn of our son’s intentions,” and asked for privacy.

“We are grateful that authorities were able to prevent any loss of life or harm to others,” the statement said.

Prosecutgors said that Alexander Ciccolo had previously been convicted of a crime that carries a penalty of more than a year in jail, which made it illegal for him to have a firearm. He is scheduled for a detention hearing today (Tuesday) in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In documents filed in court, prosecutors said Ciccolo was a supporter of the Islamic State, and told a cooperating witness in a recorded conversation that he planned to commit terror attacks inspired by the group.

Investigators said in a search of Cicolo’s home, they found several partially constructed Molotov cocktails. Authorities said the devices “contained what appeared to be shredded Styrofoam soaking in motor oil.”

“Ciccolo had previously stated that this mixture would cause the fire from the exploded devices to stick to people’s skin and make it harder to put the fire out,” a statement from U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz’s office said.

Prosecutors, in a motion to continue Ciccolo’s detention, said he had grown obsessed with Islam over the past year and a half.

Citing an account from an acquaintance who said Ciccolo has “a long history of mental illness,” the document the prosecution filed in court cites conversations in September 2014, in which Ciccolo allegedly said the “faith is under attack” and that he was “not afraid to die for the cause.” The acquaintance also received text messages describing America as “Satan,” and characterizing Americans as disgusting.

Authorities say they were made aware in the fall of Ciccolo’s plan to travel overseas and fight on behalf of the Islamic State. Investigators found a Facebook page under the name of Ali Al Amriki, which indicated “the user was interested in martyrdom for the sake of Islam and was living in the United States.”

On 27 October, prosecutors said, the user posted an image that apparently showed a dead U.S. soldier, along with the statement, “Thank you Islamic State! Now we won’t have to deal with these kafir back in America.”

The FBI then had a cooperating witness meet Ciccolo, and they began discussing his plan.