A taped interrogation released to the public shows Alexander Ciccolo, the Western Massachusetts man police say was planning a terrorist attack, told investigators about his radical ideology. The U.S. Attorney’s Office released excerpts of the exchange, recorded after Ciccolo, 23, was arrested earlier this month on arms charges. The Adams man, who is the son of a Boston Police captain, allegedly picked up a bag of weapons July 4 in a police-orchestrated sting. Ciccolo, also known as “Ali Al Amriki,” reportedly has a history of mental illness. It was his father, BPD Capt. Robert Ciccolo, who told authorities about his son’s views. After his arrest, Ciccolo told an interrogator that he viewed all Americans as “enemies” and that he believed The Islamic State, or ISIS, is “doing a good thing.”
“They’re implementing the Sharia, freeing people from oppression. Wherever they go, they’re changing things,” he said in the video footage.
A judge ordered Ciccolo held without bail in a federal detention hearing on Wednesday.
“He came to espouse those horrific thoughts about killing innocent people and Americans around the world,” Assistant US Attorney Kevin O’Regan said during the hearing, according to the Boston Globe. “He adopted the most vile beliefs, and began to act on them.”
Massachusetts terror suspect told feds: Americans are ‘enemies’
