FBI arrests NY woman for allegedly plotting ISIS-linked attack on state Capitol building in Albany

FBI Director Kash Patel announced Thursday that his bureau arrested a woman this week who was allegedly planning to bomb the New York state Capitol building in Albany in an Islamic State-inspired attack.

The bureau said Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, is charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS. She pledged her support to the terrorist group after she converted to Islam approximately five years ago, according to Fox News.

Patel said Bowie was in the advanced stages of her plan where she conducted surveillance at the state Capitol at least 5 times and purchased materials to make an explosive device. 

A criminal complaint in the case claimed Bowie wanted to “destroy as much of the building as possible” and “kill the Senators while they are meeting.” She also allegedly discussed disguising a bomb in a DoorDash delivery bag.

"She didn’t just want to kill lawmakers. She wanted a complete disruption of our government," Craig Tremaroli, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Albany field office, said during a news conference Thursday. 

The agent said Bowie allegedly planned to leave the country after bombing the state Capitol and later return to "do more," including an attack in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. 

She also allegedly spoke of attacking the White House and the president, he said.

"I want to thank our incredible agents, Intel teams, federal and regional partners, and our Justice Department who executed and likely saved many lives," Patel said in a post on X.

"This FBI is now built to act quickly with more precision than we ever have before," he continued. "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. 

"This is just the latest example of this FBI stopping an alleged terrorist in their tracks," he added. "In 2026 we’ve already disrupted 400+ such attacks at home and around the world. For any individual who may be considering harming Americans in the future: know that we will find you."

 Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.