An American woman is accused of plotting to bomb New York’s State Capitol to try and kill senators in support of ISIS.
Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, New York was arrested by the FBI as undercover agents pretended to help her build a nail bomb she would use to ‘destroy as much of the building as possible’ as senators met.
FBI agents gave Bowie $200 (£147) to buy bomb making material from a local hardware store.
They even drove her to the Home Depot store, and when she emerged from the store she allegedly said she hoped those were the right kind of nails.
‘I hope the nails are big enough… because the nails work as shrapnel, right?’ she allegedly asked the two undercover agents.
She was also caught on camera making several visits to the New York State Capitol grounds and taking photographs of the building.
She was arrested on Wednesday, prosecutors say, adding Bowie planned to conduct the attack and then flee to Syria to live in ISIS-controlled territories.
Describing the New York State Capitol building as her target, Bowie stated: ‘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’ and ‘I want it to have a affect on the American system. And destroy some of the taghut [those against Allah].’
On one social media account Bowie expressed anti-American sentiment said, ‘Praise be to Allah for September 11 and ‘When I can migrate, I will poison these infidels.’
Bowie also recorded and disseminated to others online her ‘Bayah,’ or formal oath of allegiance to ISIS.
Bowie allegedly told undercover agents she had converted to Islam five years ago, going ‘from a little girl waving an American flag after 9/11’ to now having stickers of the falling towers.
‘As alleged, Bowie plotted to deploy an explosive device at the New York State Capitol, intending to kill public officials and to destroy ‘as much of the building as possible’ before fleeing to ISIS‑controlled territory in Syria,’ said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg.
‘The FBI detected and stopped an alleged plot to attack the New York State Capitol and kill elected officials,’ said FBI Operations Director Matt Fodor.
‘According to the criminal complaint, the defendant in this case swore allegiance to ISIS and wanted to follow up with additional horrific acts of terrorism.
‘This case is yet another example of how this FBI is built to not only identify threats of terrorism quickly, but to stop their alleged plots before they are able to harm the American people.’