The Justice Department announced that Gregory Lepsky, 20, a US citizen from Point Pleasant, New Jersey, appeared in court Friday to face charges of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) for his plan to construct and use a bomb similar to the one detonated at the 2013 Boston Marathon.

According to the criminal complaint filed on Thursday, New Jersey law enforcement first encountered Lepsky in February, when they responded to a call from one of Lepsky’s family members who said he was attempting to butcher the family dog.

When police arrived, they persuaded Lepsky to exit the house. He was bleeding from one arm, and as paramedics treated him, Lepsky allegedly told officers that he was going to kill his mother and that he had pledged allegiance to Allah. He also told officers there he joined IS and planned to travel to Turkey.

After taking Lepsky into custody, police searched the house “to determine if anyone else was inside and to check on the welfare of the family dog.” Officers found the family dog hiding under the bed with a large slash wound. Lepsky told officers he stabbed the dog because “in [his] view of Islam, the dog was ‘dirty.’”…