The son of a Boston police officer who allegedly plotted to detonate pressure-cooker bombs is seen defending ISIS in a newly-released segment of a police interview, saying that he does not believe ISIS executes innocent people.
In one of the most compelling parts of the video released to necn by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Adams, Massachusetts, police ask 23-year-old Alexander Ciccolo if he agrees with the motives behind the beheadings that ISIS has captured on video and posted online.
"The people that you see being executed are criminals. They're criminals. They're the lowest of the low," Ciccolo said. "They don't kill children and women. That's lies. They will do that if they fight — if a woman or a child fights."
Ciccolo allegedly plotted to detonate pressure-cooker bombs and broadcast the executions of students live online in a move to support ISIS.
"How can a man-made law be better than divine law?" Ciccolo asked. "It's not even possible."
In addition, Ciccolo tells police that it is unjust to not follow Sharia law.
"The people that welcome the Islamic State, they're living so well. You don't hear about that in the news. You don't hear about that but they are," Ciccolo said.
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Throughout the video, Ciccolo takes time to answer the questions and chooses his words carefully as he cleans his glasses on his shirt and fidgets in his chair. The first time he appears defensive is towards the end of the video when police press him on the motives of the Islamic State.
"They kill enemies. They kill oppressors," Ciccolo said sternly.
Ciccolo was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed Monday with illegal possession of a firearm for receiving four guns July 4 from a person cooperating with the Western Massachusetts Joint Terrorism Task Force. Ciccolo, who was barred from having a gun because of a drunken driving conviction, was ordered held without bail during a detention hearing Tuesday.
His attorney, David Hoose, argued that Ciccolo had no record of conviction for weapons and no record of violence and should be released to the custody of his mother and stepfather, where he could remain under house arrest on a GPS bracelet. Hoose said Ciccolo's beliefs "may be deemed vile, but those are beliefs." He urged the judge to focus on the charge his client is facing - a felon in possession of weapons charge - not the terror allegations.
Ciccolo's father, a 27-year veteran of the Boston Police force, alerted authorities last fall that his son had a long history of mental illness and was thinking about joining the Islamic State, sources told the Associated Press.
