Mugshot of accused NY Capitol ISIS plotter revealed as feds detail plans for more attacks
A newly released booking photo shows the face of the Albany woman accused of pledging allegiance to ISIS and plotting to bomb the New York state Capitol in an attack she allegedly hoped would kill scores of people, including state senators.
Jessica Bowie, 35, appears in the three-view booking image from the Schenectady County Correctional Facility, a stark contrast to surveillance images released by federal authorities that showed her dressed in a burka during the investigation.
The new image comes as an FBI affidavit paints a fuller picture of Bowie’s alleged transformation from a social media user into an ISIS supporter, who authorities say spent weeks scouting the Capitol and taking steps toward an attack.
FBI ARRESTS WOMAN WHO ALLEGEDLY PLOTTED ISIS-LINKED ATTACK ON NEW YORK STATE CAPITOL BUILDING AMERICAN YOUTH RADICALIZED ONLINE, BUSTED IN SUSPECTED TERROR PLOTS AFTER HATING COUNTRY ON SOCIAL MEDIA Bowie converted to Islam about five years ago and adopted the name "Aisha Saif," according to the affidavit.
During her exchange with undercover agents, Bowie discussed her conversion to Islam, sharing that she had gone from "a little girl waving an American flag after 9/11" to having stickers depicting the falling towers, according to investigators.
Investigators said she maintained more than a dozen social media profiles, many of which were repeatedly suspended for violating platform rules.
By May, accounts linked to Bowie were sending messages that the FBI characterized as "support for terrorism." NAVY VETERAN AMONG TRIO WHO ALLEGEDLY WANTED TO BEHEAD SOLDIER AND FUND ISIS DRONE ATTACKS ON AMERICANS "Praise be to Allah for September 11th," Bowie allegedly wrote to another user in Arabic on May 28.
In another message that month, she allegedly wrote: "When I can migrate, I will poison these infidels." The FBI says Bowie also repeatedly pledged "bayah," or allegiance, to ISIS and sent audio recordings of herself making the pledge to people she communicated with online.
ALLEGED ISIS-INSPIRED TERROR SUSPECTS LEFT FEDS ‘VOLUMINOUS’ DIGITAL TRAIL, FAMILY BREAKS DOWN IN TEARS By July, according to investigators, her rhetoric had turned into a plot to attack the New York state Capitol building in Albany.
An FBI confidential source posing as an ISIS facilitator began communicating with Bowie through an encrypted messaging app on July 16.
Bowie allegedly told the source she wanted help making explosives and identified the New York State Capitol as her target.
"I would like to target [the] state capitol," she allegedly wrote.
Bowie told the source she wanted to benefit ISIS and "harm the enemies of god," the affidavit says.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.foxnews.com — the content belongs to Fox News.