A North Carolina man was arrested Thursday morning and charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. According to the criminal complaint, Erick Jamal Hendricks, 35, attempted to recruit people to carry out attacks on U.S. soil. Hendricks was purportedly in contact with another man who was arrested in June 2015 after purchasing an AK-47 from an undercover officer. Documents state Hendricks tried to recruit the man, who was not identified in the complaint, and is said to have pledged allegiance to the terror group on social media.
Additionally, Hendricks allegedly communicated with the two men who carried out the 2015 attack on a cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, that poked fun at the Prophet Muhammad. Among the messages they exchanged was a reference to Pamela Geller, the organizer of the controversial event. “If you see that pig make your ‘voice’ heard against her,” Hendricks allegedly told an undercover agent. Hendricks had been in touch with Elton Simpson, one of the Garland attackers, and even connected him with the undercover officer before the attack, according to the affidavit.