An Idaho man who plotted jihadist mass shootings targeted at all of the churches in his city has been sentenced to prison.
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who → plot → prison
Alexander Mercurio, 21, will spend the next 18 years in a federal prison and the rest of his life on supervised release after an FBI investigation found that he had pledged allegiance to ISIS and planned to attack churches in the terrorist group's name.
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he → spend → name
Mercurio was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday, two and a half years after he was arrested by the FBI for plotting the attack in Coeur d'Alene, a city in northern Idaho about 30 miles east of Spokane, Washington.
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he → sentence → Spokane
The terrorist had planned to incapacitate his father with a metal pipe, handcuff him and steal his guns to commit mass shootings and a suicide bombing, according to the US Attorney's Office and a criminal complaint reviewed by the Daily Mail.
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terrorist → plan → Mail
He had plotted to use 'flame-covered weapons,' explosives, knives, a machete, a pipe and firearms in the attack, the US Attorney's Office said.
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Office → plot → attack
Mercurio was arrested on April 6, 2024, one day before he planned to carry out the attack, which he had outlined in a recorded speech while posing in front of an ISIS flag with a knife.
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he → arrest → knife
After he was arrested, police searched his house and discovered butane canisters, lighters, a pair of handcuffs, a knife, a machete and several firearms belonging to his father.
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police → arrest → father
Just a couple of weeks before he was arrested, Mercurio sent a message to an undercover FBI informant saying he planned to kill as many people as possible in 'all 21+ churches in the town' and burn the buildings down.
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he → arrest → buildings
Alexander Mercurio, 21, plotted to commit a mass shooting at every church in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
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Mercurio → plot → d'Alene
He pledged allegiance to ISIS in a recorded speech in front of an ISIS flag
Mercurio on Tuesday was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison and will spend the rest of his life on supervised release following an undercover investigation by the FBI
His full message was as follows: 'The plan is basically this: lie to my dad and say I'm going on a walk, leave, walk to a park, send the bayah video, delete all my social media on my phone, then walk to the nearest church.
'
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I → pledge → church
Stop close by the church, equip the weapon(s) and storm the temple, kill as many as possible before they inevitably dispurse/scatter, then burn the temple to the ground and flee the scene, then move onto the next church, rinse and repeat for all 21+ churches in the town until killed.
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they → stop → town
In other messages to the informant, Mercurio sent a map of the churches in his city and said there were 'three or five churches in walking distance... so targeting those ones isn't hard' and that he would 'hijack a car' to get to the further ones.
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he → send → ones
Mercurio also said he wanted to commit the attack before the end of Ramadan, 'build a crude flame thrower and a "flame sword"' and that he wanted to create a makeshift bomb vest and grenades out of propane or butane canisters.
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he → say → canisters
The terrorist planned to detonate the home-made bomb vest once police responded to the attack.
He also regularly lamented that his parents 'hated my religion' and said that he had a 'grudge' against them.
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he → plan → them
Mercurio said that his father monitored his finances, which made buying materials for the attack a challenge, and that he had 'considered' killing his father but would rather not do so.
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he → say → father
The FBI began investigating Mercurio around 2021 when he was a teenager expressing support for ISIS in online group chats created to solicit Bitcoin donations for the terrorist group.
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he → begin → group
Mercurio told an undercover FBI informant that he wanted to target 'all 21+ churches in the town' before he was killed.
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he → tell → town
One of the many churches in Coeur d'Alene is pictured
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One → picture → d'Alene
Mercurio said his plan was to kill as many as possible and burn the churches before detonating a home-made bomb vest once police responded.
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police → say → vest
Another church in the city is pictured
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church → picture → city
In July 2022, after one of the group chats was deleted, an undercover FBI informant created an account with the same username as an individual Mercurio had previously been communicating with, fooling the then-teenager into believing it was the same person.
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it → delete → teenager
Mercurio reached out to the account, and the undercover informant then spent nearly two years building trust and rapport with the terrorist.
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informant → reach → terrorist
At one point, the informant also introduced Mercurio to a different undercover informant, whom Mercurio met with in person several times.
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Mercurio → introduce → person
The two FBI informants gathered as much evidence as possible to build a case against Mercurio before the agency had to arrest him as his planned attack was imminent.
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attack → gather → him
Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls of the Salt Lake City FBI said in a statement: 'This case should serve as an eye-opener to the dangers of self-radicalization, which is a real threat in our communities.
'This is why your FBI works day in and day out to prevent threats against our homeland.
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FBI → say → homeland
We will pursue anyone who tries to provide material support to terrorist organizations and harm Americans.
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who → pursue → Americans
We will bring them to justice.'
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We → bring → justice
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