Chilling messages reveal surprisingly simple way bumbling would-be NY Capitol bomber Jessica Bowie joined ISIS
See more of our coverage in your search results.
The wannabe upstate jihadi Jane charged with plotting to bomb the New York State Capitol joined ISIS through social media after a recruiter urged her to take an oath to “obey” the terrorist group’s leader, chilling messages reveal.
Jessica Bowie, 35 — who planned to attack the building with a bomb hidden in a DoorDash food delivery bag — appeared clueless after the unidentified militant sent her a message on a “well-known” social media site on May 28, according to a federal criminal complaint.
“We pledge our allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful and the Caliph of the Muslims, the Mujahid Sheikh Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, to listen and obey,” the user instructed her in Arabic to say, according to the complaint.
Bowie then asked in a bumbling reply, “So, I’m just saying this?”
“Until you join the [Islamic State],” the user responded.
“Saying this means joining the [Islamic State]?” she asked again, before the user wrote back, “Yes.”
Bowie immediately sent the user an audio file of herself saying the oath, which vowed loyalty to the current leader of ISIS, according to the criminal complaint.
The exchange was part of Bowie’s “bayah” — a formal oath of allegiance in the Islamic tradition — and hints at how she became “radicalized online,” according to authorities.
She allegedly then sent a second audio file vowing official allegiance to ISIS to another “jihadist” through a different social media site on May 30.
Bowie — a loner living in a low-budget apartment in Albany with a roommate — joined Islam five years ago, authorities said.
Bowie’s mother appears to be Catholic, according to social media posts, though it wasn’t immediately clear if Bowie herself was raised in the religion.
During online exchanges, she sent messages revealing that she planned to move from Albany to ISIS-run territory in the Middle East, according to the feds.
“When I can migrate, I will poison these infidels,” she wrote in another message on social media, according to the criminal complaint.
Bowie also told the FBI informants she was inspired by the Islamic terrorist attack on Berlin’s gay pride festival last month that left one person dead and 29 injured.
“You look at this brother in, what is it? Germany? He did a great thing, but only one person died. When he rammed into the crowd of the people,” she allegedly told the informant.
It’s unclear which social media sites Bowie used, but she was sometimes kicked off for expressing radical Islamic views, according to the complaint.
“Praise be to Allah for September 11th,” she allegedly wrote on one account in May.
Bowie allegedly bought bomb materials from a Home Depot on Aug. 5, while wearing a burqa, and planned to blow up the Capitol building with help from accomplices, who turned out to be FBI informants, according to federal authorities.
She told an informant that she went from a little girl “waving the American flag” after 9/11 to now having stickers of the fallen towers, according to the feds.
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
First Assistant US Attorney John A. Sarcone III said at a press conference that Bowie was on the feds’ radar for weeks leading up to her arrest and was believed to have been “radicalized online.”
The ISIS-inspired militant planned to escape to Syria after the attack, according to the feds.
After her bust, she allegedly told FBI agents, “There’s no helping me, you guys know enough, there’s no helping me, I’m … going to prison for the rest of my life,” according to the complaint.
“Material support is up to 20 years in prison, I already Googled it before, I know I’m going to jail,” she allegedly said.