Federal authorities have arrested a woman in connection with a plot to detonate a bomb at the New York State Capitol.

According to court documents, authorities have arrested Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany. Bowie converted to Islam about five years ago and adopted the name “Aisha Saif,” according to court documents. The complaint accuses Bowie of attempting to provide material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations. 

First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig Tremaroli, FBI special agent in charge of the Albany Field Office, are expected to announce charges at 3 p.m. Thursday. That press conference will air live on Spectrum News 1.

In the complaint, FBI Special Agent Joshua Parker provided an affidavit, stating that Bowie pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIS in social media messages from May and July that were traced back to her. She then began communicating her intentions to bomb the Capitol to an FBI confidential source beginning July 16 and continuing through at least Aug. 17, according to the complaint.

Bowie told the FBI source that she was making explosives to carry out the attack, and sent images of the Capitol she said she had taken, Parker stated, adding that surveillance teams and cameras picked her up walking around the Capitol.

“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,” Bowie wrote to the FBI source, according to court documents. She said she would disguise herself as a food delivery person, place the bomb in a bag that looked like a food delivery, likely at the main entrance from Washington Avenue and Hawk Street, according to the complaint.

Gov. Kathy Hochul reacted to news of the arrest Thursday afternoon on X.

“I’m grateful to the FBI for leading this investigation and to the New York State Police for their work to apprehend this dangerous individual. 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,” Hochul said.

Spectrum News 1 will have more information as it becomes available.