Given the history of Islamist terror plots in Boston, this breaking news item from Beantown seems even more disturbing. The FBI arrested the “estranged” son of a police captain on July 4th after he bought firearms from an informant working for the bureau — but it’s what they found in his home that will have Boston eyebrows raised:

Alexander Ciccolo, 23, of Adams, Mass., was taken into custody on gun charges after buying two pistols and two rifles from an undercover FBI confidential informant, federal officials said. In a search of his apartment, officials reported they found it loaded with possible bomb-making equipment including a pressure cooker, a variety of chemicals, an alarm clock, along with “attack planning papers” and “jihad” paperwork. FBI agents said he used the name Abu Ali al-Amriki and neighbors said he was a recent convert to Islam. …

An FBI affidavit said Ciccolo initially planned to travel to “another state” and used a pressure cooker bomb “to conduct terrorist attacks on civilians, members of the U.S. military and law enforcement personnel.” The FBI said the attack location was later changed to a town with a state university and would be concentrated on “college dorms and cafeteria, to include executions of students, which would be broadcast live via the internet.”

Ciccolo’s father, who was one of the first responders to the Boston Marathon bombing, was put in the heartbreaking situation of having to tip off the FBI about his son’s radicalism:

Law enforcement officials said Capt. Ciccolo alerted counter-terrorism authorities about a year ago that his son, with whom he had had minimal contact for several years, “was going off the deep end” and “spouting extremist jihadist sympathies.” According to the affidavit of an FBI agent, the younger Ciccolo recently stated that he is, “not afraid to die for the cause,” and that he characterized America as ”Satan” and “disgusting.”

Kudos to the father for stepping in before something terrible happened to innocent people. According to ABC, Ciccolo was among those arrested in FBI operations to stop attacks from occurring on Independence Day. If the description of Ciccolo’s apartment is accurate — which will be known when a trial takes place — then they may have only barely stopped Ciccolo from achieving his plan.

CBS affiliate WBZ in Boston has the criminal complaint posted. It only lists the weapons possession and driving under the influence of alcohol, along with a handwritten note that notes that anyone convicted of a crime cannot possess firearms at all under 18 USC § 922(g)(1). Ciccolo’s criminal past is not explained in the complaint, but the alcohol charge seems exceedingly odd for a jihadist on a mission for ISIS. Apparently Ciccolo is unfamiliar with the kind of restrictions his heroes impose on everyone else.

For that matter, be sure to check out all of the pictures ABC dug up on Ciccolo. He turns out to be a big fan of “peace” marches too, which is another point of cognitive dissonance with his latest project. Exit question: What are the odds Ciccolo has a “Coexist” bumper sticker on his car?