New York woman arrested in alleged plot to bomb state capitol building for ISIS

The FBI said they arrested the woman after giving her a fake bomb she was allegedly planning to detonate at the New York State Capitol building.

WASHINGTON — A New York woman has been charged in an alleged plot to plant a bomb at the state capitol building in Albany, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

DOJ officials said 35-year-old Jessica Bowie was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. She made her initial court appearance Thursday, Aug. 20.

In a criminal complaint filed in federal court, FBI Special Agent Joshua Parker wrote that Bowie converted to Islam sometime in March 2026 and frequently posted on social media about her support for ISIS. 

“Praise be to Allah for September 11th,” Bowie allegedly wrote in one message. 

According to the FBI, Bowie began plotting her own terrorist attack around July. According to the affidavit, an FBI source posing as an ISIS handler began messaging with her about the plan to attack the New York State Capitol building in Albany, New York. 

According to a transcript of the messages provided by the DOJ, Bowie expressed a desire to “target my state capitol,” but said she wanted to commit the attack “ideally in a way I could get away and hop on a plane after.” 

The FBI source asked if Bowie wanted help building an explosive device, to which Bowie allegedly said yes.

Prosecutors contend that Bowie planned to attack the capitol building on a day that state senators would be meeting in an effort to kill some of them.

“Ideally do it on a day when the most amount of senators are there, maybe we time it where we know there’s a meeting with the senators, try and get a good enough explosive in there to kill the senators and ideally to destroy as much of the building as possible,” Bowie allegedly wrote to the FBI informant posing as an ISIS agent. “This is the capital…a major political hub for the state.” 

Bowie allegedly conducted surveillance of the building from publicly accessible areas at least five times between July 21 and Aug. 9. 

“I know that people who plan terrorist attacks often do reconnaissance before carrying out the attack, and I believe that is what Bowie was doing during each of her visits,” Parker wrote in the affidavit. 

Bowie and the FBI informant allegedly began talking about the materials she would need to acquire to create the bomb, including nails, electrical tape and acetone.

“I want something that’s gonna do the job,” Bowie allegedly wrote. “I don’t want to take this kind of risk and then have it kill what, two or three people (sic) what good is that?” 

The informant gave Bowie $200, according to the affidavit, which she spent on the previously-discussed bomb-making materials at a hardware store. 

Officials said Bowie planned to escape after setting off the bomb and had obtained a passport, but she allegedly told her fake ISIS handler that she did not have the money to fly out of the U.S. yet. 

Bowie allegedly told the informant that she planned to fly to ISIS-controlled territory in the Middle East and eventually wanted to return to the U.S. to commit other acts of violence. 

In the partial transcripts released by the DOJ, Bowie allegedly told an FBI informant that she “can come back in the future and do more.” Specifically, she allegedly mentioned “New Years Eve in Times Square” as a possible target. 

Bowie was arrested after meeting with her supposed ISIS contact to retrieve the “bomb” that had been prepared for her. 

The FBI conducted an operation to arrest Bowie during a meet with the informant posing as her handler on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Prosecutors said when Bowie was arrested, she had a fake explosive provided by the FBI and a handgun obtained for the plot in her possession. 

In a statement after Bowie’s arrest, FBI officials claimed the case was an example of how law enforcement agencies in the U.S. are able to stop terrorism plots before they happen. 

“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,” Operations Director Matt Fodor of the FBI National Security Branch said.