Arrest in Boston: Thwarting Islamic State-Inspired Plots and Preparations

by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  •  Jul 13, 2015 at 4:47 pm

https://jihadintel.meforum.org/169/arrest-in-boston-thwarting-islamic-state-inspired

Though July 4 passed without incident in the United States, it does not mean that nothing was in the works. No official Islamic State media threatened attacks specifically on July 4, but the general call by spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani for attacks on citizens of Western countries participating in the coalition and the constant atmosphere of incitement easily give way to lone wolves and supporters with possible low-level contact with Islamic State members to devise plots for attacks, July 4 being a natural moment to realize such operations. In this regard, vigilance and alertness are far preferable to complacency, even if no successful attacks occur. The latest arrest in Boston comes as part of a wider crackdown on Islamic State supporters and sympathizers in the U.S., who may number no more than a few or several hundred.

***The estranged son of a respected Boston police captain was arrested July 4 by FBI agents as part of a counter-terrorism operation against alleged ISIS-inspired domestic terrorists, federal officials told ABC News today.

Alexander Ciccolo, 23, of Adams, Mass., was taken into custody on gun charges after buying two pistols and two rifles from an undercover FBI confidential informant, federal officials said. In a search of his apartment, officials reported they found it loaded with possible bomb-making equipment including a pressure cooker, a variety of chemicals, an alarm clock, along with "attack planning papers" and "jihad" paperwork. FBI agents said he used the name Abu Ali al-Amriki and neighbors said he was a recent convert to Islam.

"This is a very bad person arrested before he could do very bad things," one senior federal official briefed on the arrest told ABC News.

[...]

According to the FBI affidavit, Ciccolo posted a photo of a dead American soldier and wrote, "Thank you Islamic State. Now we won't have to deal with these kafir back in America." Kafir is a reference to non-believers of Islam. In a meeting with an FBI cooperating witness, Ciccolo praised the recent terror attack on a beach resort in Tunisia that killed 39 people, according to the FBI affidavit. "Awesome. Awesome, you that ah, that brother in Tunisia was impressive," Ciccolo allegedly said.

The younger Ciccolo is scheduled to be in court in Springfield, Massachusetts Tuesday morning for a detention hearing. He was quietly arraigned last Monday on the gun charges, according to documents filed in federal court today. Ciccolo has been held at the Wyatt federal lockup in Rhode Island since his arrest.

Last week FBI Director James Comey said agents had arrested more than 10 people with suspected ties to ISIS and that the busts foiled planned Fourth of July attacks.

"I do believe that our work disrupted efforts to kill people, likely in connection with July 4th," Comey said.

Ciccolo's arrest was among the ones that interrupted a planned attack, the officials said.***

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