COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — A Coeur d’Alene man was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison on Tuesday for trying to provide information to the terrorist organization ISIS, and coordinate attacks on North Idaho churches.
Court records say 21-year-old Alexander Scott Mercurio was communicating with what he thought was ISIS beginning when he was 17 years old. He was actually communicating with a government confidential source.
In early 2023, Mercurio created an online presence for pro-ISIS content. Although Mercurio wanted to travel overseas to support ISIS, court records say he lacked the resources to do so.
Mercurio was planning to attack Coeur d’Alene churches on April 7, 2024 using guns, a metal pipe and a knife.
Federal prosecutors say days before the planned attack, Mercurio stood before an ISIS flag and pledged his allegiance to ISIS. He was arrested on April 6, 2024, one day before his planned attack.
Mercurio was sentenced on Tuesday for attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Following his release from federal prison, he will be on supervised release for the rest of his life.
“America’s founders wanted our Nation to be a place where the faithful of any denomination could exercise their religious beliefs freely and without fear of violence,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security M. Scott Proctor. “Alexander Scott Mercurio planned to attack that fundamental freedom by bringing death and destruction to several churches. This sentence shows that the Department of Justice will relentlessly investigate, pursue, and prosecute those who would terrorize and murder Americans for exercising their religious rights.”
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