Adams Terror Suspect Ordered Detained Until Trial
 A bearded Alexander Ciccolo, seen in this sketch of his appearance in U.S. District Court, was ordered detained until his trial for illegal possession of firearms. More charges are expected to be filed against the terror suspect. |
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The man the federal government suspects of hatching a terror plot in his Adams apartment will be imprisoned until his trial.
Alexander Ciccolo was in federal court on Tuesday afternoon for a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson.
Robertson ruled that the government met its burdens to establish both that Ciccolo is a flight risk and that releasing him posed a danger to the community.
Ciccolo's attorney, David Hoose of Northampton, asked the court to release Ciccolo for house arrest with GPS monitoring in the care of his mother and stepfather. Hoose said they live in "a remote part of Berkshire County" without easy access to public transportation.
After the hourlong hearing, Hoose declined to identify the town he was referring to. He also declined to talk about what the government describes as Ciccolo's "history of mental illness."
According to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, Ciccolo was arrested on July 4 in illegal possession of firearms. Boxes of evidence was removed the same night from his 10 Murray St., Adams, apartment; charges were sealed until Monday's announcement by the U.S. attorney's office.
Assistant U.S Attorney Kevin O'Regan laid out the government's case for Robertson, mostly recapping the assertions made in the government's previously unsealed memorandum supporting its request that Ciccolo be detained.
The one new piece of evidence presented on Tuesday was a 9-minute segment from what O'Regan said was a 1 hour, 40 minute post-arrest interview conducted by FBI Special Agent Paul Ambrogio.
In the interview, Ciccolo appears composed and cooperative as he is questioned about his beliefs and his support for the self-proclaimed Islamic State known as ISIS or ISIL.
Asked how he feels about ISIL, the video shows Ciccolo replying: "They are [a good thing], a really good thing. ... They're implementing Sharia. Wherever they go, they're changing things."
Ciccolo is seen bristling when asked how he feels about ISIL's slaughter of women and children.
"They don't kill women or children," he tells Ambrogio. "That's lies. They will do that if they fight, if women or children fight."
Ambrogio asks, "We don't have Sharia here. Is all of the U.S. the enemy?"
"Yes," Ciccolo replies. "It's unjust.
"How can your manmade law be better than divine law? It's not possible."
Ciccolo's attorney made a couple of arguments in opposition to the government's request for detention.
Hoose's main case was that the only charge against Ciccolo, a weapons violation under U.S.C. Section 922(g), was predicated on the 23-year-old's conviction of misdemeanor driving under the influence.
"The purpose of [922(g)], as any federal prosecutor will tell you, is to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons," Hoose said later on the courthouse steps.
Robertson said her role was to look at the totality of the case when evaluating the question of detention before trial.
"One of the factors I'm required to consider is the circumstances of the offense charged," she said, interrupting Hoose's argument. "That includes the circumstances surrounding acquiring the firearm. That opens the door."
On the issue of Ciccolo's attack on a nurse at the Franklin County House of Detention, Hoose said that while that is regrettable, it should not factor into the question of his client's detention pending trial.
"I'm authorized to tell you Mr. Ciccolo feels bad about that," Hoose said. "He regrets it.
"This is a young man who was incarcerated, found himself incarcerated for the first time in his life and committed a compulsory, angry act. It's inappropriate to read anything more into it than that."
Hoose also hinted at a possible defense strategy against any future terrorism charges, telling Robertson that the FBI's interview video — at least the portion aired in court on Tuesday — does not show Ciccolo discussing an overt act.
"What you learn from that interview was Mr. Ciccolo expressed some beliefs that are not in the mainstream," Hoose told the judge. "That may be deemed vile by Mr. O'Regan or by others, but they're nothing more than beliefs. I have no doubt many people will find them offensive."
Later, outside the courthouse, Hoose would not comment on whether he saw the case as potentially a terrorism or a First Amendment case.
Robertson concurred that the U.S. justice system does not incarcerate people because of their beliefs. But she said the views Ciccolo expressed in the interview demonstrate that he is a flight risk.
"His expression of belief leads me to wonder whether he would have a commitment to show up," Robertson said. "While I don't see that he has ready access to financial resources, I don't see in his expressions — his online expressions or the statement he made [in the video] — that he made a commitment to the process we would conduct here."
Ciccolo appeared in court in shackles and a plain, beige jump suit that appeared to be prison issued. He had four supporters in the gallery. Hoose identified three of them as his mother, stepfather and an uncle. A fourth spectator, a young woman, appeared to fight back tears while O'Regan laid out the government's case.
Ciccolo was impassive for most of the hearing, frequently looking down but, for the most part, following the attorney's arguments. When he entered the courtroom, he nodded in the direction of his supporters and mouthed something to them. When he was led out, Ciccolo waved and placed his hand on his heart while looking in their direction.
Hoose said Ciccolo's father, a Boston Police captain, was not in the building for the hearing.
Tags: FBI, terrorism, US Court,
