Woman arrested for allegedly plotting New York state Capitol attack
The FBI arrested a woman Wednesday who they allege was plotting to attack the New York State Capitol building in Albany.
The FBI alleged in a criminal complaint Thursday that Jessica Bowie, 35, pledged allegiance to ISIS in online communications and began planning the attack in July.
The suspect converted to Islam about five years ago and in messages with unidentified users pledged support to ISIS, the criminal complaint said.
Bowie had allegedly discussed her plans with FBI informants and spent weeks doing surveillance of the Capitol, including taking pictures from various vantage points, including an "observation hall nearby," the criminal complaint said.
"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," she allegedly told the informants, according to the complaint.
She allegedly bought bomb materials from a hardware store on Aug. 5 and plotted with the informants for the next two weeks, according to the complaint.
The informants allegedly met with Bowie on Wednesday and provided her with an inert explosive device and an inert handgun along with instructions on how to detonate the explosive, the complaint said.
The FBI soon arrested her, the complaint said.
"Make no mistake about it, Ms. Bowe's alleged plot was serious, it was dangerous and thanks to the partnerships of the FBI's joint terrorism task force, it was foiled," Craig L. Tremaroli, the special agent in charge of the FBI Albany Field Office, told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
Upon being interviewed by FBI agents, she allegedly said, "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.
Bowie appeared in court Thursday and was charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations. Attorney information for the suspect was not immediately available.
The investigation is ongoing.
Gov. Kathy Hochul thanked the FBI and local law enforcement for their work in a statement Thursday.
"Earlier this year, amid a rise in political violence and threats against public officials, we took steps to strengthen security at the State Capitol and across state government," she said in a statement.
"While there is no immediate threat at this time, we will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to protect New Yorkers and keep our communities safe," she added.
