US charges woman for allegedly plotting attack on New York State Capitol

The suspect, Jessica Bowie, 35, was arrested on charges of providing material support for ‘terrorism’.The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has claimed to have thwarted a planned attack to kill lawmakers at the New York State Capitol.On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced it had arrested a suspect, 35-year-old Jessica Bowie, who was accused of obtaining an explosive after pledging loyalty to ISIL (ISIS).Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US authorities arrest 18-year-old accused of plotting ISIL-inspired attacklist 2 of 3US charges alleged Iran-backed ⁠Kataib Hezbollah suspect – What we knowlist 3 of 3FBI says it foiled ‘planned attacks’ targeting White House UFC eventend of listSince 2004, the US has designated ISIL a “foreign terrorist organisation”. Bowie was charged with providing material support to such a group.John A Eisenberg, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement that investigators had stopped Bowie “before she was able to act on her plot to bring terror to the Capital Region”.He added that investigators believe Bowie planned to destroy as much of the state capitol as possible, before fleeing to Syria.Case relies on confidential informantsIn a 21-page complaint, a special agent for the FBI outlined the government’s case against Bowie.He explained that Bowie, an Albany resident, was a “frequent social media user” who created over a dozen accounts “relaying support for terrorism”.One of her posts included the message, “Praise be to [God] for September 11th,” a reference to the deadly 2021 attacks in the US, according to the complaint.In July, the court filing indicated that an unnamed FBI informant began communicating with Bowie through encrypted apps. Bowie allegedly messaged the informant that she would like help making a bomb and identified her state capitol as her intended target.