https://www.foxnews.com/us/fbi...ate-capitol-building

Federal authorities say Jessica Bowie spent weeks surveilling the New York State Capitol and preparing an ISIS-inspired bombing aimed at killing state senators.

By Stephen Sorace , Sarah Rumpf-Whitten
Fox News

Published August 20, 2026 1:53pm EDT
Updated August 20, 2026 2:47pm EDT


A New York woman plotted to bomb the New York State Capitol and kill state senators inside, repeatedly surveilling the building and buying materials for an explosive device before the FBI arrested her, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by Fox News Digital Thursday.

Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, is charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS. The FBI says she pledged allegiance to the terror group, discussed disguising a bomb in a DoorDash delivery bag and wanted to carry out the attack when state senators were meeting.

She converted to Islam about five years ago and began going by the name "Aisha Saif." The affidavit also said that on May 28, 2026, Bowie, using the username "nusaybahsaif" on a social media platform, and told another user in Arabic: "Praise be to Allah for September 11th" and "When I can migrate, I will poison these infidels."

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, FBI officials said Bowie’s alleged plans extended beyond an attack on the state Capitol and included ambitions to carry out additional violence after fleeing the country.

"She didn’t just want to kill lawmakers. She wanted a complete disruption of our government," said Craig Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Albany field office.

Tremaroli said Bowie allegedly planned to leave the country after bombing the Capitol and later return to "do more," including an attack in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. She also spoke of attacking the White House and the president, he said.

Tremaroli described ISIS as "one of the most vicious organizations" intent on killing Americans, undermining democracy and disrupting the country’s way of life.

"We’re moving more decisively than ever to identify, locate, arrest criminals before they can carry out their alleged plots," Tremaroli said.

John A. Sarcone III of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said authorities hoped the arrest would deter others considering acts of violence.

"We are vigilant, we are prepared," Sarcone said. "And just as we stop this defendant, we will continue to disrupt plots and protect the American people."

The alleged plot unfolded over about a month as Bowie communicated with an FBI source posing as an ISIS facilitator, according to the affidavit. Beginning in mid-July, she told the source she wanted help making explosives and identified the Capitol as her target, saying she hoped to damage the building and kill lawmakers.

Bowie allegedly began scouting the Capitol in Albany soon afterward.

Investigators said she walked around the building on roughly five separate occasions between July 21 and Aug. 9, taking photographs and studying the surrounding area and security.

In one exchange, she told the FBI source she would make a point of having picnics near the Capitol and drinking coffee nearby so she could observe the building.

She allegedly told the source she wanted to destroy as much of the Capitol as possible and kill senators while they were meeting. She also discussed putting the device in a bag that would make her look like a food-delivery worker.

On Aug. 5, investigators say, Bowie went to a Home Depot in Rensselaer using $200 provided by one of the confidential sources and bought materials she believed would be used to build the bomb, including a large container of nails.

The next day, Bowie delivered DoorDash bags that she said could be used to conceal the device, according to the complaint.

On August 19, Bowie met again with the confidential sources and paid $150 for what she believed was a handgun, magazine and ammunition, investigators say. She was also shown an explosive device purportedly made from the materials she had purchased. Both the firearm and explosive device were inert.

Bowie was arrested on August 19 after leaving the meeting with the inert gun and device, according to the FBI. Agents said they found knives and a handwritten pledge of allegiance to ISIS on her.

Authorities say that Bowie told the undercover agents that she wanted to escape to Syria after the bombing.

In a press conference Thursday evening, Gov. Kathy Hochul said: "Political violence has no place in our state, and I believe this suspect should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

"Earlier this year, amid a surge in political violence and threats against public officials, we took steps to strengthen security at the state Capitol and across state government because law enforcement intercepted this alleged plot early. There was never any active danger to our state capitol. And right now, there are no specific, credible threats against the Capitol."

In a statement, FBI Director Kash Patel praised the team that apprehended Bowie.

"This FBI is now built to act quickly with more precision than we ever have before. We have thousands of more personnel in the field, a rebuilt DSIC coordination hub to share intelligence, stronger partnerships with local law enforcement than in history, and more counterintelligence partnerships around the world than ever to find threats wherever they try to hide," he said in an X post.

"For any individual who may be considering harming Americans in the future: know that we will find you."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer praised the FBI for stopping an ISIS-inspired suspect before she could cause harm.

"We spoke with the FBI, and thank God they've apprehended and arrested this person who I would say was ISIS-inspired. They don't believe she's a member of ISIS, but she was ISIS-inspired," he said. "And this shows you the dangers of terrorism. We can always we must always be vigilant. This is a few weeks before 9/11, where all of us were in such pain because of what happened. And here is ISIS still at it, still trying to inspire people to do harm to us."

Bowie made her initial appearance Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Stewart. Prosecutors argued that Bowie should be detained as a flight risk and a danger to the community and requested a detention hearing.

Judge Stewart appointed the federal public defender’s office to represent Bowie and remanded her to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. No date for her next court appearance has been set.

The charge carries a statutory maximum prison term of 20 years, a fine of up to $250,000 and a lifetime of supervised release.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 12131,

well, she wants to be Isis - exile her to Iran, Nigeria, Congo, or Afghanistan...

In the virgin pool. Some Muslim is gonna get lucky.

https://share.google/MonuHfXCYEzTFZWP2

Glad they got the freak show off the street, but I don't like entrapment. No matter the reason.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
…No matter the reason.

I have no problem with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Glad they got the freak show off the street, but I don't like entrapment. No matter the reason.

This isn't entrapment. That's when someone gets tricked into committing a crime they normally wouldn't do. She wanted to do this, she just was duped by an FBI agent.

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:
This isn't entrapment. That's when someone gets tricked into committing a crime they normally wouldn't do. She wanted to do this, she just was duped by an FBI agent.

That woman was no more likely to build a bomb than I am to run a four minute mile. They told her what to buy and how to assemble it.

The FBI has a long history of doing this kind of shit. Randy Weaver anyone?

quote:

That woman was no more likely to build a bomb than I am to run a four minute mile.

You have no idea but just assume. But let’s just say it’s true, then if it were some Ahmed Ali, who is very likely handy, what do you say?

quote:

The FBI has a long history of doing this kind of shit. Randy Weaver anyone?

The FBI had nothing to do with entrapping Weaver. It was the FATF that did. The FBI got involved only after the shooting started.

Oh sure, the one time they don't wait for it to be too late and say "We were watching her..."

We can do hypotheticals all day. One would need to look at the case and see what they did. Here? Clear entrapment.

If you want her on something? Arrest her for something that she did rather than a thought crime that you pushed into something else.

And I'm just going off the article. I'll admit that there may be more to it.

Just calling this case "clear entrapment" doesn't make it so. But everyone is entitled to have their own whacky definition of entrapment, so rock on, as long as you're not a federal judge. This woman was eager and enthusiastic to do what she thought she was doing. The feds provided her with opportunity, not intent, and it was not entrapment.

In some of the countries she likes if the accused is convicted of treason the punishment would be beheading. Would beheading in this case be culturally appropriate if she's convicted?

Agree with many here. As I read it, SHE stated what she WANTED to do and HOW she wanted to do it. She SOLICTED HELP to actually BUILD a device to do it. She took SUBSTANTIAL steps towards completing the act. i.e. conducting surveillance and providing materials SHE thought would be used to build the device, and materials to be used to secrete the device.

In my eyes, thank God it was someone willing to notify and work with the FBI that responded, and not an actual extremist that would have happily assisted. This is far from entrapment.

quote:

New York State Capitol

couldn't blow up that god awful plaza instead.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
Oh sure, the one time they don't wait for it to be too late and say "We were watching her..."

Conveniently the one time is when the “they” is the target. The public doesn’t seem to get that benefit.

Did she initiate the interaction [with the FBI] to kill Americans and want to know how to make a bomb or, did the FBI initiate the conversation coupled with, "hey, we can also teach you how to build a bomb to do it"?

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
We can do hypotheticals all day. One would need to look at the case and see what they did. Here? Clear entrapment.

If you want her on something? Arrest her for something that she did rather than a thought crime that you pushed into something else.

And I'm just going off the article. I'll admit that there may be more to it.

Oh bullshit…this woman was trapped into nothing.

“Beginning in mid-July, she told the source she wanted help making explosives and identified the Capitol as her target, saying she hoped to damage the building and kill lawmakers.”