Coeur d’Alene teen pleads guilty to planning attack in support of ISIS

A Coeur d’Alene teen pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Alexander Scott Mercurio was arrested in April 2024 after FBI agents learned of his allegiance with the Islamic State group online, according to an affidavit from the case. Mercurio planned to carry out a suicide mission at several churches using knives, guns, fire and other weapons to “kill as many people as possible.” Days before his planned attack on local churches, Mercurio stood before an Islamic State group flag, holding a knife and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, often referred to as ISIS.

He was taken into custody before carrying out any of his violent plans. At the time of his arrest, Mercurio was 18. He graduated from Coeur d’Alene Public Schools in 2023, but only attended online classes his last two years.

Mercurio notified the court that he intended to plead guilty without a plea agreement in August. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27 next year. Mercurio faces up to 20 years in federal prison. There is no parole from federal prison.

Mercurio swore an oath of loyalty to ISIS and was planning to attack several churches, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time of the arrest. The FBI learned of the teen’s online posts and began meeting with Mercurio through an informant. Mercurio told the informant about his plan to attack his father, steal his guns and go on a church massacre for the Islamic State group, according to the affidavit. FBI director Christopher Wray called Mercurio’s plot “truly horrific.”

In an interview at the Kootenai County Jail with The Spokesman-Review soon after his arrest, Mercurio praised Osama bin Laden and was unapologetic.

Mercurio told a reporter he had been a normal kid with friends until the last three years of high school when he isolated himself while doing school online. That’s when he found Islam.

“I radicalized myself through that,” he said in the April 2024 interview. “The purpose is revenge. It’s an eye for an eye.”

Mercurio had expressed interest in carrying out some kind of violent act since October 2022 and told the FBI that he found purpose in the Islamic State group . He also told the informant about his need to satiate “bloodlust,” according to the affidavit.

Mercurio used his school-issued laptop to research and communicate about terrorism and the Islamic State group. He planned to send all of his money to the Islamic State group after his suicide mission, according to the affidavit.