Skip to footer

Cop's son accused of plotting ISIS-inspired attack in court

Alexander Ciccolo, the son of a Boston police captain was arrested on July 4 and held for unlawful receipt of firearms. He appeared for a bond hearing on Tuesday in Springfield, Mass.

|
Dave Fraser/Northumberlan­d News/AP/File
Alexander Ciccolo participates in a peace walk through Brighton, Ontario, July 26, 2012. Law enforcement officials say Ciccolo was arrested after his father, a Boston police captain, alerted authorities that his son was talking about joining the Islamic State group and setting off bombs.

The estranged son of a Boston police captain arrested in connection with attempted terrorist attack appeared in court Tuesday. Alexander Ciccolo of Adams, Mass., is accused of building bombs in his apartment to attack a university campus on behalf of the Islamic State militant group.

Mr. Ciccolo was arrested on July 4 for unlawful receipt of multiple weapons and charged in connection with a plot to commit terrorism, reports the U.S. Department of Justice. He was put under surveillance by the FBI after being reported for suspicious behavior on social media, where investigators linked him to the pseudonym “Ali al-Amriki” showing Ciccolo’s interest in the Islamic State. His father reportedly notified investigators of Ciccolo’s growing interest in militant Islam.

According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Paul Ambrogio, Ciccolo has “a long history of mental illness.”

Ciccolo was observed purchasing “at least one” pressure cooker on July 3, according to Agent Ambrogio. On July 4, he was arrested for accepting the delivery of two Glock handguns, a Colt AR-15 rifle, and a SigArms high-powered rifle. In his apartment, investigators also found improvised explosive devices, molotov cocktails, and machetes. The FBI also discovered incendiary devices that appeared to contain shredded styrofoam soaking in motor oil.

According to the affidavit, Ciccolo had intended to launch his attack prior to the end of Ramadan on July 17, and no later than July 31, according to the affidavit, the Monitor's Warren Richey repr

The Monitor’s Warren Richey detailed the undercover agent’s interactions with Ciccolo:

At one point, the operative asked Ciccolo what he thought of the recent terror attack against tourists on a Tunisian beach. The gunman, armed with an assault rifle, killed 38 vacationing civilians.

“Awesome,” Ciccolo replied, according to the affidavit. “Awesome, you know that brother in Tunisia was impressive.... He got like 38, 39 people ... one guy ... that is a huge accomplishment I think.”

Ciccolo asked the undercover operative for help with his own plans. He said he needed two rifles and two pistols and “tons of ammo.” 

While at Franklin County House of Correction, Ciccolo stabbed a nurse in the head with a pen, prosecutors say.

Court papers record that Ciccolo waived his Miranda rights and expressed his support for the Islamic State.

Ciccolo will appear for a bond hearing on Tuesday in Springfield, Mass. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Prosecutors say Ciccolo is dangerous and a risk to flee, if released.

This report contains material from Reuters.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Cop's son accused of plotting ISIS-inspired attack in court
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0714/Cop-s-son-accused-of-plotting-ISIS-inspired-attack-in-court
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe