FBI Charges Albany Woman in Capitol Bomb Plot
FBI Charges Albany Woman in Capitol Bomb Plot
The News
The charge
Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, is charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, ISIS, the Justice Department said. She is accused of plotting to set off an explosive device at the New York State Capitol.
She made her initial appearance in federal court in Albany on Thursday and is being held without bail, the Washington Examiner reported, citing the court filing. She faces up to 20 years in prison, the Examiner said. Her defense attorney did not respond to that outlet's request for comment.
What prosecutors say is in the complaint
The Justice Department says investigators found that Bowie intended to carry out the attack and then flee to Syria to join ISIS-controlled territory. She was observed making several visits to the Capitol grounds and photographing the building, the department said. Fox News, citing the court documents, reported she scouted the building five times.
Describing the target, Bowie said, according to the complaint quoted by the department: "I want to destroy as much of the building as possible and kill the senators while they are meeting. I want them to lose a lot of important documents as well."
The department also says Bowie posted anti-American messages online, including "Praise be to Allah for September 11th" and "When I can migrate, I will poison these infidels," and that she recorded and shared a "bayah," or formal oath of allegiance to ISIS.
None of that has been tested in court. Bowie is accused, not convicted.
The undercover operation
The complaint describes three paid FBI sources who posed as ISIS allies and communicated with Bowie, the Washington Examiner reported after reviewing the filing. Two of them met her in a car, taught her how to load a gun, gave her a disabled bomb and showed her how to set it off, the Examiner said; agents arrested her just after she left that meeting. The complaint's author is FBI counterterrorism agent Joshua Parker, a bureau veteran of 18 years.
Timeline
Bowie was arrested on Aug. 19, the department said, "as she gained possession of what she believed to be an explosive device, with the intent of targeting the New York State Capitol and New York State Senators." The device was not real.
Reactions
Officials released photos Thursday of Bowie allegedly surveilling the Capitol and buying bomb-making items at a Home Depot, the Examiner reported, after an undercover operative gave her $200 for the supplies. Attorney General Todd Blanche posted the images, saying: "This is just the latest example of federal law enforcement stopping a terrorist attack in its tracks, before the unthinkable could happen."
The pushback
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) called the case a sham in a post on X on Friday, quoted by Raw Story: "The FBI gave her the bomb and the gun and the funds to spend at Home Depot. The government literally encouraged and enabled this terrorist plot in order to foil it."
Raw Story also cited journalist Ford Fischer's reading of the complaint, which includes a message from an FBI informant to Bowie -- "This picture is the place you want to taget" -- alongside a photo of the New York State Capitol, to which she allegedly replied, "Yes in the yellow."
"The FBI detected and stopped an alleged plot to attack the New York State Capitol and kill elected officials," said Matt Fodor, operations director of the FBI's National Security Branch.
More
Bowie posted the September 11 and "poison these infidels" messages in May, about two months before the first undercover source began chatting with her online, according to the Examiner's account of the complaint. When that source asked her about "jihad," it reported, she began discussing plans to find explosives and target "my state capitol."
Both the Washington Examiner and Raw Story note that heavy informant involvement has drawn entrapment challenges before, most prominently in the 2020 case over an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in which a jury acquitted several defendants.
Who is prosecuting
The FBI led the investigation with the U.S. Secret Service, New York State Police and the Albany Police Department. Trial Attorney Ryan D. White of the Justice Department's National Security Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Belliss and Joseph Hartunian for the Northern District of New York are prosecuting.
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