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.”
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.
READ THE AFFIDAVIT –
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 statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul said: “Today, the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI announced the arrest of an individual who allegedly plotted an attack on the New York State Capitol. 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.”
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.”
