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A son of the Boston police captain, whom the authorities have named a "committed soldier" from the Islamic State group, was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for plotting to kill Americans on a college campus.
Alexander Ciccolo, known as Ali Al Amriki, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in May, three years after his father alerted the FBI to his son's desire to fight for the terrorist group.
Ciccolo's lawyers say the man, who was dealing with mental health and addiction issues, had poorly designed plans and was not able to carry out the attack. The authorities, for their part, described him as a loyal supporter of the Islamic State group dedicated to inflicting "maximum damage" on the United States.
"Make no mistake, Alexander Ciccolo was an engaged soldier of the Islamic State who wanted to kill innocent people in an American university with assault rifles and pressure cooker bombers, not a dupe who did not understand the What he did was "Hank Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Boston, said in a statement.
Ciccolo was arrested in July 2015 after receiving four firearms that he had ordered from a person who cooperated with the FBI. He pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and to attempt, among other things, to use weapons of mass destruction one month before his trial.
Prosecutors said he also planned to use homemade bombs similar to the pressure cookers used during the murderous attack on the Boston marathon in 2013. Ciccolo was seen buying a new one. pressure cooker shortly before his arrest.
Ciccolo's lawyers, aged 26, identified the school in court documents such as the State University of New Mexico.
After arresting Ciccolo, he stabbed a prison nurse more than ten times, authorities said.
Prior to his arrest, he posted a photo of his Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Facebook page with the words JUSTICE FOR JAHAR KEEP THE HOPE. : "We are at the point where Muslims have the right to use violence, yes, I agree with that."
Ciccolo's father has not spoken publicly about the arrest of his son. He told his son's lawyers that to date, he did not think his son would have or could have followed his plans, his lawyers said in court documents. But his father, who was unaware of a specific plot, said he feared his son had done something "smaller and more impulsive," lawyers say.
Ciccolo's mother, Shelley MacInnes, told New England Public Radio last year that her son was "very compassionate" and "would not hurt a fly".
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