COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — A 21-year-old Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, man was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group in a plot to attack local churches, said the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. District Judge David C. Nye handed down the sentence to Alexander Scott Mercurio in federal court.
Federal authorities say they arrested Mercurio on April 6, 2024, one day before his planned attack on several Idaho churches. Court records show Mercurio pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group while holding a knife in front of an organization flag days before his arrest.
According to court records, Mercurio planned to incapacitate his father with a metal pipe to steal his firearms for the mass casualty attack. He also intended to use flame-covered weapons, explosives, knives, and a machete.
During a search of Mercurio’s home, law enforcement officers say they recovered butane canisters, lighters, a pair of handcuffs, a knife, a machete, and several firearms belonging to his father.
Authorities said that in early 2023, Mercurio created an online repository for pro-Islamic State content with the purpose of spreading the group’s doctrine.
Justice Department officials emphasized the protection of religious freedoms following the court’s decision. M. Scott Proctor, principal deputy assistant attorney general for national security, commented on the prosecution.
“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,” Proctor said. “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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