Arrest came weeks before 9/11 anniversary, authorities said
An Albany woman is facing a federal terrorism charge after authorities said she plotted to bomb the New York state Capitol building in an effort to kill lawmakers.
Authorities said Thursday that Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, had been under surveillance for more than a month.
During that time, she communicated with at least one confidential informant posing as an ISIS facilitator, according to authorities.
Authorities said Bowie believed laws were being passed that were an affront to Islam and that the alleged plot was intended to kill lawmakers at the state Capitol building.
Investigators said they foiled the attack just weeks away from the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Bowie was arrested Wednesday. No attorney information was listed for her, and a phone call to the Federal Public Defenders’ office in Albany on Thursday was not immediately returned.
“The allegations in this complaint are deeply disturbing,” John Sarcone, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, said. “That’s an attack on democracy itself and one we will not tolerate.”