CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ A Charlotte man was arrested Thursday on charges of trying to recruit potential terrorists in the United States and planning to set up a training compound.
Erick Jamal Hendricks, 35, used social media networks to identify people to train to join the Islamic State, also known as ISIL and ISIS, federal authorities said. He also appeared to have ties to a terrorist attack in Texas in 2015 at an event mocking prohibitions of making drawings of the Prophet Muhammad.
According to a federal complaint, Hendricks was trying to create a sleeper cell that would train operatives to conduct terrorist attacks in the United States. They would train in tactics and weapons at a hidden compound, the complaint said.
Hendricks told an undercover FBI operative in May 2015 that he wanted to construct a training center "hidden in plain sight ... farm, house, garden, tunnels," according to an affidavit by Shawn Hare, an FBI counterterrorism agent.
Potential targets included people in the military known to ISIL and a woman who organized the "Draw Prophet Muhammad contest." Depictions of Muhammad are considered profane in Muslim culture and were cited in the attack on a humor magazine in Paris in January 2015.
Hendricks claimed to have 10 members signed up for his group, the complaint said.
Hendricks appeared at a short hearing Thursday morning at the federal courthouse in Charlotte. A small group of people who said they knew Hendricks gathered briefly outside the building, but had little to say to a Charlotte Observer reporter.
Hendricks' next court appearance, a detention hearing, is scheduled for Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate David Cayer.
Hendricks' case appears to have developed out of an arrest in Ohio in June 2015. Federal authorities said that an unidentified man there tried to buy an AK-47 assault rifle and ammunition from an undercover officer.
He later pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He had an extensive criminal record including four felony convictions for drug trafficking.
He entered into a plea agreement with the federal government that allowed for a reduced sentence if he cooperated with investigators.
Through social media, the man had pledged allegiance to ISIS and indicated he would be interested in conducting attacks in the United States.
Authorities learned that Hendricks had contacted the man through social media to recruit him in the spring of 2015. Hendricks told the man he "needed people" and wanted to meet with him, the federal complaint says.
Hendricks also told the man that there were "brothers" in Texas and Mexico; that he was attempting to "get brothers to meet face to face"; and that he wanted "to get brothers to train together."
Hendricks then tested the man's religious knowledge and commitment, asking whether he'd be willing to commit "jihad," to die as a "martyr" and his desire to enter paradise.
Authorities said the Ohio man took this to mean that Hendricks was seeking recruits for a terrorist attack in the U.S. and to find out if the man was a suitable candidate.
Hendricks spread his net wider over social media, and was put in touch with someone working undercover for the FBI.
On April 16, 2015, authorities say, Hendricks told the FBI operative to download the document "GPS for the Ghuraba in the U.S."
Among other instructions, the document encouraged followers to die as martyrs rather than be arrested and jailed. "Boobie trap your homes," "lay in wait for them" and to "never leave your home without your AK-47 or M16," the document advised, federal authorities say.
On April 23, 2015, authorities say, Hendricks contacted through social media Elton Simpson. Along with Nadir Hamid Soofi, Simpson was inspired by ISIL and launched the attack on the "First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest" in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015.
Simpson and Soofi wounded a security guard and were then killed by Garland police.
Authorities say Hendricks had been in touch with Simpson through social media and told the FBI's undercover operative to attend the contest on the day of the attack. Hendricks asked how many people were gathered and questions about security before the attack by Simpson and Soofi began.
If convicted, Hendricks faces up to 15 years in prison.
