Overview
- Federal agents arrested 35-year-old Jessica Bowie on Wednesday after confidential sources handed her an inert explosive device and an inoperable handgun during a recorded meeting.
- Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint on Thursday charging Bowie with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and a magistrate ordered her detained without bail.
- The complaint says Bowie pledged allegiance to ISIS, recorded a formal oath called a bayah, posted extremist material online, and told an undercover source she wanted to “destroy as much of the building as possible and kill the senators while they are meeting.”
- Investigators allege Bowie spent weeks surveilling the New York State Capitol, photographed the site multiple times, purchased bomb components including a bin of nails at a Home Depot on Aug. 5, and discussed disguising a device in a food-delivery bag.
- Officials from the FBI, the Justice Department and New York state praised the multiagency operation for disrupting what they described as an advanced, lone-actor plot and said the case underscores ongoing concerns about online radicalization and security at public institutions.