Brooklyn Man Pleads Guilty To Trying To Help ISIS: Feds

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn man who investigators say posted guides about attacking New York City online pleaded guilty this week to trying to help ISIS, prosecutors announced.

Zachary Clark — who also went by at least three other names — pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.

The guilty plea comes almost a year after Clark was first arrested. Investigators found out the 41-year-old had been supporting the Islamic State terrorist group for months online, encouraging and guiding fellow supporters about how to carry out attacks on Americans in New York City.

“Having pledged allegiance to ISIS, Clark provided specific instructions for how to conduct attacks in New York City, instructing others on knifing and bomb-making," Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers said Monday.

"We must remain vigilant to the threat of terrorism. We must remain committed to identifying and holding accountable those who threaten our communities because of their support for foreign terrorist organizations.”

Clark pledged his allegiance to ISIS' leaders twice in the months before his arrest and posted brutal messages on the dark web about how best to avoid getting caught when using knives or bombs to attack people, according to his criminal complaint.

"The thought of plunging a sharp object into another person's flesh [is] never an excuse for abandoning jihad," Clark wrote in one post titled "Knife Attacks. "[K]nives, though certainly not the only weapon for inflicting harm upon the kuffar [non-believers], are widely available in every land and thus readily accessible."

In another message, Clark urged chatroom users to "make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom."

He then posted maps and images of the New York City subway system, encouraging ISIS supporters to attack those locations, prosecutors said.

The NYPD, the FBI, the Attorney General for National Security and U.S. Attorneys for the Southern District of New York all had a hand in bringing charges against Clark, who will face a sentencing in February.

Prosecutors say his charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.