CLEVELAND (AP) – A North Carolina man arrested Thursday on accusations that he tried to recruit people to join the Islamic State group had communicated with one of two men shot dead by a police officer in Garland, Texas, during an attack at an event where the Prophet Muhammad was being depicted in cartoons, the FBI said.
Erick Jamal Hendricks, 35, was arrested Thursday morning in Charlotte, North Carolina, on a charge filed in Cleveland of providing material support to a terrorist group. A federal magistrate in Charlotte ordered that Hendricks be detained and assigned a federal public defender, who did not return telephone messages.
An FBI affidavit details online communications between Hendricks and an undercover FBI agent posing as an Islamic State recruit who witnessed the attack at the suburban Dallas civic center in May 2015.
Two Phoenix men wearing body armor and carrying rifles drove to the center, exited a vehicle and began shooting at the entrance. An off-duty police officer providing security for the event fatally shot both men before they could get inside. An unarmed security guard was shot in the ankle.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack and referred to the two Phoenix men, Elton Simpson and Nadir Hamid Soofi, as “brothers.” Shortly before the attack, the 31-year-old Simpson posted on his Twitter account: “May Allah accept us as mujahideen,” or holy warriors.