EXCLUSIVE — The case of a New Yorker charged with plotting a bombing reflects a broad trend of American citizens becoming alleged Islamic State group terrorists, a government-linked research group told the Washington Examiner.
Federal prosecutors have charged 280 people since 2014 with ISIS-related crimes, including 212 U.S. citizens, according to the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center. The most recent high-profile example is Albany woman Jessica Bowie, who was arrested in August for allegedly telling undercover FBI sources about her plans to blow up the New York State Capitol.
The 212 figure expands on a study NCITE released Friday on the justice system’s handling of ISIS supporters since the group declared a religious caliphate in the Middle East in 2014. The data and charges suggest that after 25 years of waging war on Islamic extremists in response to 9/11, the United States is itself now a breeding ground for alarming numbers of them.
Two hundred of the total ISIS-linked defendants were just U.S. citizens, while another 12 were dual citizens of the U.S. and another country, NCITE told the Washington Examiner. Another 19 defendants were permanent legal residents. Most of the 280 cases involved material support for terrorism charges, with at least 239 people, or 85.3%, receiving convictions.
NCITE, located at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is one of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Centers of Excellence” dedicated to using DHS funding for national security research.
New York’s latest case
The FBI arrested Bowie after undercover operatives handed her “what she believed to be an explosive device” meant to kill New York state lawmakers, according to an FBI criminal complaint. She is charged with attempting to materially support a foreign terrorist organization.
Bowie converted to Islam about five years ago, adopted the name “Aisha Saif,” and got the government’s attention by posting messages on social media such as “I will poison these infidels,” investigators said. The FBI also claims to have found Bowie posting a “bayah,” an audio clip of her reciting a loyalty pledge to ISIS.
Bowie’s attorney did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. A judge ordered Bowie held without bail on Aug. 20. The prosecution and defense plan to discuss options for a plea agreement, an August court motion said.
The suspected jihadist is accused of telling the undercover sources about her plans to kill legislators for offending Islam. She allegedly scouted out the New York Capitol building beforehand and bought bomb-making supplies at a Home Depot store, all with the individuals’ false encouragement. Authorities released photos allegedly showing Bowie at the state Capitol and a Home Depot store in an Islamic burqa.
She also showed interest in consulting “anarchist literature” for “good tips” on making explosives, according to the FBI.
“We definitely want to make sure the senators get killed for sure,” Bowie allegedly said in a meeting, calling it “the most important part.”
“I don’t want to take this kind of risk and then have it kill what, two or three people?” the FBI quotes her as saying. “What good is that?”
Bowie also speculated about religious justifications for killing Muslims, children, or pregnant women in the overall attack, federal agents claim.
“This is destroying, like, huge enemies of God,” she allegedly said. “These are some of the biggest American politicians … if there is, like, blood, forbidden blood that gets spilled, hopefully, Allah will forgive me and accept, you know.”
“Bowie also told [an undercover source] that she went from a little girl waving an American flag after 9/11 to now having stickers of the falling towers,” the bureau wrote.
What’s driving this?
ISIS, an al Qaeda offshoot, was considered defeated from military strikes during Donald Trump’s first presidency after becoming infamous for beheading Americans on video. But it has seen a resurgence of violence by followers around the world.
Much of the group’s strategy now entails using the internet to incite supporters to violence while remaining decentralized, federal officials have said since 2025.
Jihadist groups in general are now tailoring their propaganda around a “narrative of Muslim oppression” to attract Western audiences, according to a March threat assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
“Those promoting Islamist ideology have been able to appeal to broader and younger audiences through their use of technology, and in recent years have increasingly focused on emotionally evocative and grievance-based narratives rather than on traditional jihadist scholarship and ideological writings,” the ODNI found.
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“While al-Qa’ida and ISIS maintain the intent to launch operations targeting the U.S., the most likely terrorist attack scenario in the Homeland involves U.S.-based lone offenders,” the assessment said.
One example the report cited was a man who drove a truck through a crowd in New Orleans in January 2025 and started shooting, killing 14 people before police killed him. The attacker, a U.S. citizen, went from serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan to declaring allegiance to the Islamic State group online.