The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany on the afternoon of Aug. 20 held a news conference in Albany to announce the arrest of a 35-year-old Albany woman on charges of plotting to bomb the New York State Capitol building in Albany. She was identified as Jessica Bowie. Bowie was charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
According to a complaint filed in federal court that was signed by an FBI special agent and has been seen by Westfair’s Westchester County Business Journal, Bowie converted to Islam approximately five years ago. The complaint says that she has been a frequent social media user and “creates public profiles on various platforms to espouse anti-American messages.” The complaint says that many of her online accounts were suspended by platform hosts because she violated their terms of use with her postings.
“Between at least May 2026 and July 2026 several accounts tracing back to BOWIE sent messages relaying support for terrorism,” the complaint says. “For example, on May 28, 2026, BOWIE, using a well-known social media platform (“Platform 1”) with the username nusaybahsaif, told another user, in Arabic, ‘Praise be to Allah for September 11th.’”
In the complaint, the FBI Special Agent describes using an FBI “confidential human source” to track Bowie’s activities. Included is a description of her spending approximately 28 minutes in a Home Depot obtaining materials for use in building a bomb. She was reported to have conducted at least five trips to the State Capitol to scope it out.
Through the course of the investigation and as alleged in the government’s complaint, investigators learned that Bowie had intended to conduct the attack before fleeing to Syria to join others in ISIS-controlled territories.
While making her visits to the New York State Capitol grounds she took several photographs of the building. In describing the New York State Capitol building as her target, Bowie stated: “I want to destroy as much of the building as possible and kill the senators while they are meeting. I want them to lose a lot of important documents as well” and “I want it to have a affect on the American system. And destroy some of the taghut.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in a statement said, “I’m grateful to the FBI for leading this investigation and to the New York State Police for their work to apprehend this dangerous individual.
“Earlier this year, amid a rise in political violence and threats against public officials, we took steps to strengthen security at the State Capitol and across state government.
“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.”
“As alleged, Bowie plotted to deploy an explosive device at the New York State Capitol, intending to kill public officials and to destroy ‘as much of the building as possible’ before fleeing to ISIS controlled territory in Syria,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division and our law-enforcement partners are committed to the painstaking work of preventing plots like this from succeeding and securing convictions against those who attempt such plots.”
“The American people represent an undying spirit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — values fundamentally opposed by foreign terrorist organizations such as the one this defendant allegedly pledged her support to,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III for the Northern District of New York. “I am incredibly proud to work side by side with the men and women of the FBI and our law enforcement partners who identified, investigated, and ultimately stopped this defendant before she was able to act on her plot to bring terror to the Capital Region and the United States. My office looks forward to aggressively prosecuting this case and delivering justice for the American people.”
“The FBI detected and stopped an alleged plot to attack the New York State Capitol and kill elected officials,” said Operations Director Matt Fodor of the FBI National Security Branch. “According to the criminal complaint, the defendant in this case swore allegiance to ISIS and wanted to follow up with additional horrific acts of terrorism. This case is yet another example of how this FBI is built to not only identify threats of terrorism quickly, but to stop their alleged plots before they are able to harm the American people. I want to commend the FBI Albany Field Office, the Justice Department, and our law enforcement partners for their outstanding work in this case. Cooperation and partnership are essential to protecting the U.S. homeland.”
If convicted, Bowie could face up to 20 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine and after prison supervised release for the rest of her life.
