Family members of the suspects in a foiled bomb plot against a Muslim enclave in the Catskills are defending their loved ones.
"He's not that type of person," says April Colaneri, mother of suspect Brian Colaneri.
Brian is in custody in connection with the alleged plot to bomb an Islamic community southeast of Binghamton. She says it was traumatic when authorities searched her home and arrested her son.
"He was going, 'please take care of my mom,' and they were taking him outside, they tell me he'll be back in three hours, and they never had the decency to call me and I stayed up all night," April said.
April says her son has Aspergers Syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum. She says he also has ADHD, and that he wouldn't hurt a fly. He's a former boy scout, Xbox gamer and Dollar General employee. She believes he knew the others through the game of "Dungeons and Dragons." She says Brian was caught up in role playing and thought this was all a game.
"He did a stupid thing. By going online with other guys and they were discussing things and basically it was the wrong type of things to discuss online," April said.
The 20-year-old attended BOCES and Greece Arcadia, where Colanari believes he came in contact with at least one of the other suspects, Vincent Vetromile.
Vetromile is also under arrest. He lives in Greece and attended MCC. The college confirms that he and two of the other suspects were registered as students over the past two years. Vetromile was also a boy scout and police say three of the four were in boy scouts together.
Wayne Crysel, the grandfather of suspect Andrew Crysel, says his grandson hasn't seen the others in over a year. Wayne says 18-year-old Andrew has Aspergers Syndrome and lives with him. He describes his grandson as a homebody, he has a job, and is trying to save money to buy a truck.
When asked if there any reason he'd have bias against the Muslim community, Wayne said, "No, not at all." The grandfather said Andrew knows some of the others allegedly involved from the time he spent in the boy scouts. Wayne is calling this a "horrific" time for his family.
"It's like his name is Osama Bin Laden," Wayne said.
The fourth supect's name is not being released. He lives at the home where police found the weaponry and is a student at Greece Odyssey High School.
One student there who knows the fourth suspect said of the incident, "They said it was a joke, like it wasn't serious, but got taken seriously."
Islamberg has been established for more than 30 years. It’s a part of Muslims of America, which has 21 communities throughout the nation. It has been targeted before.
According to the Department of Justice, a man from Tennessee recruited people to burn down a mosque there in 2015.
None of the enclave's residents wanted to go on camera with Spectrum News. However, they did say they are shocked by the incident because of the quiet lives that the people in the community live.
Spectrum News is told town leaders will address the incident later in the week.