Man accused of planning to bomb NYC to help Islamic State

A New Jersey man arrested after stabbing the family dog had plans to construct and use a pressure cooker bomb in New York City and, if necessary, become a martyr in support of the Islamic State group, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Gregory Lepsky, 20, of Point Pleasant, was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Investigators say he had praised the Islamic State group’s leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, in online messages.

He was arrested in February after investigators said he stabbed and threatened to kill the dog. After police arrived, investigators said Lepsky threatened to kill his mother and told police that he had “pledged his allegiance to ‘Allah.’” While searching the home, officers found a pressure cooker stored behind a roll of bubble wrap in his bedroom closet.

“Lepsky expressed regret for having tried to kill the family dog because, according to him, if he had not done so, the police would not have discovered his plan,” FBI agent Tara Jerussi wrote in a complaint filed Friday.

Investigators said Lepsky told police he stabbed the dog because it was considered “dirty” in his view of Islam.

Lepsky was ordered held without bail Friday and given a court-appointed lawyer. He didn’t enter a plea, and his lawyer didn’t comment after the brief hearing. If convicted, the charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Reached by phone, Lepsky’s mother, Luda, said that the charges are “not true.”

“This is my son, I feel I am going to die,” she said.