Son of Boston Police Captain Held in Connection to Terror Plot

An alleged supporter of the Islamic State terrorist group, ISIL, remains in prison after being formally indicted Friday for his allegedly plotting to bomb college campuses.

Alexander Ciccolo, 23, of Adams, the son of a Boston Police captain, was charged by a grand jury with one count of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms and one count of assault with a deadly weapon and causing bodily injury to a person assisting an officer, Boston’s U.S. Department of Justice announced.

He is also charged with stabbing a nurse after his arrest.

Ciccolo allegedly took delivery of four firearms, which he had ordered from a person who was cooperating with members of the Western Massachusetts Joint Terrorism Task Force. That official had been communicating with Ciccolo about his plans to engage in a terrorist act, according to court documents.

Ciccolo was immediately arrested after allegedly accepting the firearms. Ciccolo was in illegal possession of the weapons because he had been previously convicted of a crime punishable by more than year in jail, according to the charges.

Prosecutors also allege Ciccolo is a supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

In recorded conversations, Ciccolo spoke with an undercover witness about his plans to carry out acts of terror on behalf of the terrorist group, reports indicate. His plans included setting of explosive devices filled with black powder, nails, ball bearings and glass, in crowded places such as college dinning halls.

Prior to his arrest, Ciccolo was seen purchasing a pressure cooker similar to that used in the Boston Marathon bombings, investigators say. Following his arrest, Ciccolo allegedly stabbed a nurse with a pen while he was being processed at a correctional center, resulting in a second charge on top of the firearms charge.

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