Overview
- Federal prosecutors charged 35-year-old Jessica Bowie with attempting to provide material support to ISIS after she allegedly took possession of what she believed was an explosive device supplied by confidential FBI sources.
- Investigators say Bowie moved from online extremist posts and recorded oaths of allegiance to in-person surveillance of the New York State Capitol and purchases of bomb-making materials, including a large bin of nails bought on August 5.
- The FBI says Bowie communicated from mid-July with people she thought were ISIS facilitators but who were actually confidential human sources, and she was arrested after meeting those sources and receiving inert devices on Wednesday.
- She was arraigned in federal court, ordered held without bail, and faces a single federal count that carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison; officials stressed the case is ongoing and the allegations are in a criminal complaint.
- Law-enforcement leaders and New York officials credited the undercover operation for disrupting an advanced plot and noted the case fits a pattern where online radicalization, encrypted contacts, and informant stings are used to detect and stop lone-actor threats.