Albany woman planned to bomb the NYS Capitol, FBI says

An Albany woman who converted to Islam five years ago and pledged allegiance to ISIS plotted to bomb the New York State Capitol building and kill state lawmakers, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Jessica Bowie, 35, told a confidential FBI source that she supported the Islamic State terrorist group and asked for assistance in learning how to make explosives, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

"The allegations in this complaint are deeply disturbing," First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III said at a news conference Thursday. "That someone would harbor such hatred toward our way of life and seek to target the New York State Capitol and New York State senators. That's an attack on democracy itself, and one we will not tolerate."

Bowie made her first appearance in federal court Thursday on charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Bowie, who is being held at the Schenectady County jail, was arraigned Thursday in Albany and ordered held without bail.

The Albany Federal Public Defender's Office, assigned to represent Bowie, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Few elected officials have been in the state Capitol since the legislative session adjourned in June. Rank-and-file lawmakers aren’t slated to return until January.

For the past month, Bowie communicated through an encrypted messaging app with an individual she believed to be an ISIS facilitator, in actuality an FBI agent, about her plans to attack the state Capitol before fleeing to Syria, prosecutors said.

Bowie, authorities said, made several visits to the state Capitol grounds and took several photographs of the building.

"I want to destroy as much of the building as possible and kill the senators while they are meeting," Bowie wrote to the agent, according to the complaint.

In a later message, Bowie said she wanted to commit the attack "on a day when the most amount of senators are there" and "ideally destroy as much of the building as possible."

Bowie planned to pose as a food delivery worker to get the bomb inside the building, the complaint states, and she allegedly said that if she was successful in her plot, she would "come back in the future and do more," including an attack on New Year's Eve in Times Square.

Prosecutors said Bowie converted to Islam about five years ago, pledged an oath to ISIS and adopted the name "Aisha Saif."

On Aug. 5, Bowie purchased bomb-making materials from a Home Depot, including a large plastic bin full of nails, and plotted with informants for the next two weeks, according to the complaint.

The informants met with Bowie on Wednesday and provided her with an inert explosive device and handgun, along with instructions on how to detonate the bomb, the complaint said. She was arrested shortly thereafter.

"Make no mistake: Miss Bowie’s plot was serious. It was dangerous," said Craig Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the FBI's Albany field office.

After being interviewed by FBI agents, Bowie reportedly told them: "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."

In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul said "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."