The 35-year-old Albany woman accused of plotting to blow up the New York State Capitol building is a mother of two boys and has a history of mental illness, according to people who knew her personally before her turn to Islamic fundamentalism
Jessica Bowie was arrested Wednesday on federal charges after she allegedly swore allegiance to the terrorist organization ISIS and plotted with three undercover FBI informants to help carry out plans to attack the state Capitol with a gun and a massive explosive device, according to court records
Bowie was taken into custody around the time of a multiagency raid of her residence in the 300 block of Sherman Street in Albany. Bowie, who converted to Islam five years ago, apparently drew the attention of federal investigators several months ago when she allegedly espoused anti-American messages in online accounts that contained subscriber information listing her date of birth and cellphone number
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Bowie is a longtime resident of the Capital Region and the daughter of Christine Bowie and the late Ronald Bowie Sr. Her mother still lives in Albany and sometimes cares for Bowie’s two sons who lives next door to Christine Bowie in the same duplex building
Minaya estimated that Bowie’s two sons were around 13 and 10 years old. She said she had never seen anything suspicious or unusual about the family
Attempts to reach Christine Bowie for comment were unsuccessful. Minaya said she was “a good grandma, and she takes good care of her grandkids.”
Bowie’s half-brother, Ronald Bowie Jr., said he had not seen his half-sister in more than a decade but that she had a history of mental health struggles. He said the last time he had seen her was at their father’s funeral, where he said she exhibited disturbing behavior
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“She was growling like a dog,” he said. “She had a lot of anger issues.”
He added that his father once told him she suffered from bipolar disorder, but he couldn’t be certain of any proper medical diagnoses
Bowie isn’t the first member of her family to get in trouble with the law. In 2012, her brother, Lance Haines, was arrested after Albany police found marijuana, cocaine, heroin and more than 100 counterfeit brand clothing items at a storefront he operated on Lark Street
But questions remain about why Bowie decided to turn to Islamic fundamentalism and pledge loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, one of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations over the last decade. According to court documents, Bowie told one informant that “she went from a little girl waving an American flag after 9/11 to now having stickers of the falling towers.”
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The federal investigation intensified in July, a month after authorities obtained information about Bowie’s alleged pledge to ISIS, when a confidential informant posed as an ISIS facilitator and communicated with Bowie through an encrypted platform, according to court records. ISIS has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States for more than a decade
“Over the course of the next two weeks, Bowie discussed with (the confidential Albany,” according to a federal criminal complaint that charges Bowie with attempting to provide material support or re
The criminal complaint alleges that over the past two months, Bowie met with three undercover FBI informants and told them she would rather target the White House but that it would be too difficult. Instead, she allegedly settled on a plot to kill as many elected officials as possible at the state Capitol in Albany. Her alleged plan included fleeing to an ISIS-controlled area in Syria after the attack
Her planning was so detailed that federal authorities say that during one of her five visits to the Capitol over the past two months, she settled on detonating the explosive device at the Washington Avenue entrance on the north side of the Capitol
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The FBI’s sting operation escalated on July 31, when the informant who met Bowie online asked if she was open to having a “trusted brother from Dawlah” help her with the bombing plan. The FBI said “Dawlah” is an alias for ISIS
Five days later, two additional FBI informants met Bowie in Albany inside a car one of them was driving. The meeting was recorded on video and audio as Bowie reaffirmed her desire to bomb the Capitol, according to the complaint
That same afternoon, one of the informants gave Bowie $200 after driving her to a Home Depot in Rensselaer County, where she purchased nails, electric tape, a 9-volt battery and acetone that they told her were needed to build her bomb, according to court records
“I hope the nails are big enough … because the nails work as shrapnel, right?” she told the informants after returning to the car with the items, according to the complaint. She also allegedly told them she had a DoorDash bag that could be used to hold the explosive device once it was ready
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The informants, according to prosecutors, had convinced Bowie that one of them was an active ISIS member and that ISIS commanders had been briefed on her plot
Bowie appeared in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Daniel J. Stewart on Wednesday. He ordered her to remain in the custody of U.S. Marshals pending a future court appearance
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This article originally published at Albany woman accused in Capitol bombing plot has history of mental illness
