Boston police captain's son arrested for planning terrorist attack

Alexander Ciccolo in 2012

 The FBI have arrested the son of a Boston Police captain on weapons charges on the Fourth of July after threatening to use pressure-cooker bombs and guns on an unidentified university.

Alexander Ciccolo, 23, is the son of Boston Police captain Robert Ciccolo, police confirmed.

The investigation says that Ciccolo, who calls himself Abu Ali al-Amriki and who neighbors reportedly said is a recent convert to Islam, intended to construct bombs using pressure cookers, like those used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, to stage an attack somewhere in the United States inspired by ISIS ideology.

“What I am gonna do is prepare fire bombs. I’ll do that today. T[hey] are cheap and effective,” Ciccolo said in a July 2 instant message to the witness, according to the FBI. “You get the rifles. I’ll get the powder.”

WalMart receipts show he purchased a pressure cooker on July 3 in North Adams, the complaint says.

When the FBI searched his apartment, they found several partially constructed Molotov cocktails, two machetes, and a long curved knife, according to the complaint.

 

 After his arrest, Ciccolo met with a nurse for a routine medical screening. There, he took a pen and “forcefully stabbed” the nurse in the head, causing a bloody gash and breaking the pen in half, according to the complaint. He also waived his Miranda Rights and reaffirmed his support for ISIS, the FBI said.

Ciccolo had a “long history of mental illness” and had previously abused alcohol, according to the complaint.

The planned target of Ciccolo’s plan changed several times, according to the FBI. He first wanted to attack two bars and a police station, the complaint says. His planned targets then rotated between a university cafeteria, dorm rooms, and a bar near the university, the complaint says.

The Ciccolo family released a statement through the Boston Police Department Monday afternoon:

“While we were saddened and disappointed to learn of our son’s intentions, we are grateful that authorities were able to prevent any loss of life or harm to others. At this time, we would ask that the public and the media recognize our grief and respect our desire for privacy.”

 According to the daily Boston Globe, Ciccolo is the son of veteran Boston police Capt. Robert Ciccolo, who notified the FBI of the young man's intentions.

The FBI had been tracking Ciccolo since fall of 2014, when he expressed a desire to fight for ISIS, the complaint says. Ciccolo told an acquaintance that his “faith is under attack” and he was “not afraid to die for the cause,” the FBI complaint said.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Today, Tuesday for a detention hearing.

Source: Daily Boston Globe