New York woman charged in plot to set off explosives at state Capitol

An Albany woman who authorities said had been plotting to bomb the New York state Capitol building in an effort to kill lawmakers because she believed laws were being passed that were an affront to Islam is facing a federal terrorism charge.

Authorities said Thursday that Jessica Bowie of Albany, a 35-year-old who converted to Islam five years ago, had been under surveillance for more than a month as she communicated with at least one confidential informant posing as an ISIS facilitator. Investigators said they foiled the attack just weeks away from the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The affidavit of probable cause said FBI counterterrorism agents saw a number of online accounts linked back to Bowie in which she had expressed support for terrorism in posts starting around May. Monitoring of her behave soon ensued, with information about her intent to carry out an attack on the state coming to light around July 16.

She asked for lessons from at least one confidential informant on how to build an explosive device, made at least five trips to the Capitol grounds to plan where it might be most effective to set off an explosive, and scoped out security measures all while in contact with multiple informants, authorities said.

Authorities also came into pocession of photos of Bowie conducting reconnaissance at the Capitol

and buying a list of bomb-making ingredients at a hardware store. She also arranged to buy a firearm and ammunition in order to fire the weapon at police or security if needed, authorities said.

Authorities said she planned to flee the country after the attack, but said she would be willing to return to launch more attacks on the White House or on Times Square on New Year's Eve.

The affidavit also noted Bowie had considered making Albany City Hall a target, but had settled on the Capitol and specifically targeted state senators because they make laws that she considered to be offensive to Islam. It's unclear when she hoped to carry out the attack, given the legislature has been out of session since June.