the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Point Pleasant NJ, A man from Point Pleasant (Ocean County) who planned to detonate a pressure-cooker bomb in New York City on behalf of ISIS received a 16-year sentence in federal prison on March 1. Gregory Lepsky, 22, whose arrest two years ago came after a family member notified law enforcement that he had a weapon and threatened to kill the family dog, pleaded guilty on March 13, 2018, to attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Authorities took Lepsky into custody on February 21, 2017, after responding to the tip and finding that the dog had been stabbed, but survived. A search of Lepsky’s residence uncovered a new pressure cooker in his bedroom closet, as well as books on jihad and suicide bombing. Law enforcement also searched Lepsky’s digital devices and found a browsing history that included content related to ISIS, propaganda, and terrorist attacks. Among the results were instructions on how to build pressure-cooker bombs and social media messages indicating Lepsky’s intentions to fight on behalf of ISIS. During his plea hearing last year, Lepsky admitted he began planning the New York City attack in January 2017. He will be subject to a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term.
ISIS is an ideology. They don’t need a city to be a real threat. The evacuation of Baghouz has civilians and ISIS fighters with the civilians.
And there is the Internet. The ideology is there for anyone interested. Like a guy from New Jersey.