(CNN) — A Massachusetts man was arrested and charged in a plot to engage in terrorism on behalf of ISIS, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday in federal court.
Alexander Ciccolo, who also goes by Ali Al Amriki, was charged with felony possession of firearms, the U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts said.
His father, a Boston police captain, turned Ciccolo in to authorities after Ciccolo made alarming comments, according to a law enforcement source. Robert Ciccolo has had minimal contact with his son since the younger Ciccolo turned 7, the source said.
Alexander Ciccolo has a long history of mental illness and had become obsessed with Islam in the past 18 months, according to court documents.
On July 4, the 23-year-old accepted firearms that he had ordered from a person who was cooperating with members of the Western Massachusetts Joint Terrorism Task Force, prosecutor Carmen M. Ortiz said.
The men had been talking in recorded conversations about Ciccolo’s plans to commit an act of terrorism, Ortiz’s office said in a statement. Ciccolo allegedly said he was inspired by ISIS and wanted to set off homemade bombs such as pressure cookers filled with black powder, ball bearings and glass in places where a large number of people gather, such as college cafeterias.
Before his arrest, agents watched Ciccolo purchase a pressure cooker similar to that used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Ciccolo was arrested accepting the guns that included a Colt AR-15 .223-caliber rifle, a SigArms Model SG550-1, 556 caliber rifle, a Glock 17-9mm pistol and a Glock 20-10 mm pistol, the office said.
Investigators allegedly found several partially constructed Molotov cocktails in Ciccolo’s apartment.
A detention hearing is set for Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Massachusetts.
