The FBI arrested a woman on Thursday who allegedly pledged herself to ISIS and planned to bomb the New York Capitol in Albany.
A confidential source reportedly indicated to the FBI that 35-year-old Jessica Bowie of Albany had pledged support for the Islamic State and had sought out instructions on how to make explosives, per the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
“She was arrested Wednesday by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Albany, First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone told reporters Thursday,” reported NBC News.
“Bowie is expected in court Thursday afternoon on a single charge of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization,” it added.
The complaint said that Bowie became radicalized after she converted to Islam five years ago, adding that she created multiple social media accounts using her honorific Islamic name because she had been “frequently suspended by providers for violating their terms of use.” At least several accounts she had allegedly activated had posts in support of the Islamic State. She also pledged herself to the terrorist organization in audio recordings, having once wrote, “Praise be to Allah for September 11.”
The FBI reportedly became aware of her plot to bomb the NY state capitol through a confidential source posing as an ISIS facilitator.
“She told the source that she wanted help to carry out an attack on the New York Capitol, according to the complaint. The building was less than 2 miles from her home, and she said she wanted to do something to ‘harm the enemies of god,’” added NBC News.
Speaking with reporters, Craig Tremaroli, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Albany field office, said that Bowie had planned to attack on a day when multiple lawmakers were in attendance and that wanted a “complete disruption of our government.”
“Miss Bowie didn’t just want to kill lawmakers; she wanted a complete disruption of our government. And after that, she planned to flee the country and one day come back to ‘do more,’ such as New Year’s Eve in Times Square, even stating she would come back to attack the White House and the president,” Tremaroli said.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone also told reporters on Thursday that the arrest should have “a chilling effect on anyone in this country who is being radicalized or considering acts of violence and on our enemies whose governments support death to America.”
“We are vigilant, we are prepared, and just as we stop this defendant, we will continue to disrupt plots and protect the American people,” he added.
