A 35-year-old Albany, New York woman has been arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation after allegedly plotting a bomb attack on the New York State Capitol intended to kill state legislators. The FBI announced the arrest of Jessica Bowie on Wednesday, with the Department of Justice confirming charges on Thursday. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison — a sentence length Bowie herself appeared aware of, allegedly telling agents after her arrest, "Material support is up to 20 years in prison. I already Googled it before. I know I'm going to jail."

The New York State Capitol, located in Albany in upstate New York near the Canadian border, houses both chambers of the state legislature and serves as the nerve centre of New York state government. According to a 21-page criminal complaint, Bowie had allegedly converted to Islam and become an outspoken online supporter of the Islamic State (ISIS) group, operating over a dozen social media accounts expressing support for terrorism, including posts praising the September 11, 2001 attacks. Beginning in July, an FBI informant made contact with Bowie through encrypted messaging apps, through which she allegedly expressed her desire to bomb the Capitol. "I want to destroy as much of the building as possible and kill the senators while they are meeting," she allegedly wrote. She selected the state Capitol over higher-profile targets like the White House because she believed it would be easier to attack, prosecutors say.

Bowie allegedly conducted at least five reconnaissance visits to the building, telling an informant she would "make it a point to have picnics by the capital to observe" security measures. She planned to disguise herself as a food delivery driver using a DoorDash bag to smuggle a bomb inside, before fleeing to Syria. Agents gave her $200 to purchase bomb-making materials at a Home Depot hardware store, and photographs in the complaint show her at a self-checkout lane. Upon leaving the store, she allegedly remarked on the nails she had purchased: "I hope the nails are big enough... because the nails work as shrapnel, right?" She was also found carrying knives and a written oath of allegiance to ISIS at the time of her arrest.

The case has drawn scrutiny over the FBI's use of confidential informants and undercover operatives — tactics that have long been controversial in terrorism investigations. Critics and civil liberties groups have raised concerns that such "sting" operations risk entrapment, effectively nudging vulnerable individuals toward plots they might not otherwise have carried out. A prominent earlier case, involving four men from Newburgh, New York, became a landmark example of these concerns: the so-called "Newburgh Four" were convicted in 2010 of terrorism-related charges, but years later a judge ruled that the "real lead conspirator" in the plot "was the United States," leading to their compassionate release in 2023 and 2024. Whether Bowie intends to contest the charges is not yet clear; her attorney had not responded to requests for comment as of Thursday.