The son of a Boston police captain has been arrested for planning to carry out a terrorist attack inspired by the Islamic State militant group, which included setting off pressure-cooker bombs at an unknown university, according to the Associated Press.
Alexander Ciccolo's father, Robert Ciccolo, informed authorities last year that his son had a long history of mental illness and had made alarming comments about joining the ISIS, said two law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to release information.
"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," the family said, according to CNN.
Twenty-three-year-old Ciccolo, who also goes by the name Ali Al Amriki, was charged with illegal possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts.
"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," according to The Boston Globe.
Ciccolo had initially targeted a police station, but then shifted his attention to an unidentified university for the reason that there would be more people around. He told a co-operative witness that he would carry out the attack in dormitories and a cafeteria, according to court documents and intended to broadcast the attack, including the executions of students live on the internet.
The FBI and The Department of Homeland Security had issued an intelligence bulletin that warned of potential ISIS-inspired terror attacks tied to the Fourth of July. FBI Director James Comey said last week that the FBI believes it foiled terror plots in the month before the holiday by detaining more than 10 people, but did not reveal details, as HNGN previously reported.
