Woman charged in ISIS-inspired terror plot to detonate explosive device at New York State Capitol, feds say

By Lila Dominus, CNN

(CNN) – A 35-year-old woman has been charged in connection with a plot to use an explosive device to attack the New York State Capitol and state senators, officials said Thursday.

Jessica Bowie, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, was arrested by FBI agents Wednesday after buying what she believed to be an explosive device and stating “her desire to carry out an attack at the New York State Capitol,” said Craig Tremaroli, FBI special agent in charge of the Albany field office.

She has been charged with one count of attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, ISIS, said John Sarcone, the First Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of New York.

Bowie swore her allegiance to ISIS through multiple audio recordings and conducted surveillance at the Capitol at least five times, taking dozens of photos, according to Tremaroli.

The Albany woman allegedly “arranged to have an explosive device made out to carry this attack, even purchasing several of the required materials herself,” Tremaroli said.

Bowie had said she wanted “to destroy as much of the building as possible and kill the senators while they are meeting,” according to Tremaroli, who cited the criminal complaint.

She had been radicalized online and “spread messages of hate and violence against the American people,” Sarcone said.

Bowie’s attorney declined to comment on the case.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday steps were taken to strengthen security at the State Capitol earlier this year “amid a rise in political violence and threats against public officials.”

New York state senators had adjourned for a recess in June.

“While there is no immediate threat at this time, we will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to protect New Yorkers and keep our communities safe,” Hochul said in a statement on X.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the alleged plot “deeply alarming.”

“There is no place for terrorism or political violence, in our city, our state or anywhere in our country,” the mayor wrote on X.

Communications with FBI informants

Between May and July, several social media accounts traced back to Bowie “sent messages relaying support for terrorism,” according to the criminal complaint. By mid-July, an undercover FBI informant posing as an ISIS facilitator was messaging with her.

Bowie asked the informant for help “making explosives to carry out an attack,” according to the complaint, and then deleted the messages.

“I would like to targey (sic) state capitol. But ideally in a way I could get a way with and hop on a plane after,” Bowie wrote. “But idk if it’s doable.”

Over the next two weeks, Bowie continued to message the informant, sending photos of the Capitol and circling where she intended to target.

Bowie told the informant she planned to put the bomb in a food delivery service bag so as to look like a delivery person, and then escape to Syria, according to the complaint.

A week later, on August 5, Bowie met with two other informants inside a car – a meeting that was, unbeknownst to her, filmed and recorded.

During that meeting, Bowie “reaffirmed her desire to bomb the New York State Capitol,” the complaint states, and allegedly told the informants, “we definitely want to make sure the senators get killed for sure,” later adding, “I don’t want to take this kind of risk and then have it kill what, two or three people what good is that?”

That afternoon, the informants drove Bowie to a Home Depot and lent her $200. She purchased the supplies they had told her she would need, including “a large plastic bin full of nails,” officials said.

Bowie later messaged an informant asking for someone who can sell her a “hand gun and bullets something powerful but easy enough to conceal so if the cops do get towards me during the operation I can shoot back.”

Agents make the arrest

On Wednesday, Bowie met up with two informants in a car and paid $150 for a firearm (that was inert), ammunition and one magazine, the complaint alleges.

An informant then showed Bowie an inert explosive device they claimed was built from the supplies she had bought at Home Depot. Bowie gave the informant $200 as a donation “to the purported bombmaker,” the complaint says.

She said she learned the Capitol building housed as many as 200 people and “hoped she could take out at least half of that,” the complaint states.

Bowie also allegedly told the informants “she went from a little girl waving an American flag after 9/11 to now having stickers of the fallen towers,” according to the complaint.

When Bowie got out of the vehicle, with the inert gun and explosive, she was arrested by the FBI.

Bowie had allegedly planned to “flee the country” and eventually return to “do more, such as New Year’s Eve in Times Square,” Tremaroli said. Bowie also allegedly stated that she “would come back to attack the White House and the president, but only after she bombed the state capitol.”

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

“Miss Bowie’s alleged plot was serious. It was dangerous, and thanks to the partnerships on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, it was foiled,” Tremaroli said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Caroyln Sung contributed to this report.