A federal jury on Tuesday found Halima Salman guilty of knowingly accepting military-style training from ISIS while living in Syria, concluding an emotional terrorism case that drew national attention.
The trial was widely viewed as the first in a U.S. federal court involving a woman accused of joining the Islamic State.
Salman, who used the name “Umm Khattab al-Muhajir,” is a 27-year-old U.S. citizen and former Brooklyn resident. She faces a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison, with sentencing set for Feb. 2.
Federal prosecutors said Salman’s parents took her and her eight siblings out of the United States in 2016 before bringing the family to territory in Syria controlled by ISIS.
Halima Salman, charged with knowingly receiving military training from a foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State, is pointed to by prosecutor Adam Amir before US District Judge Natasha Merle during her trial opening statements at Brooklyn federal court in New York City, New York, US, October 13, 2026 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
The Justice Department said Salman was 18 when she married an ISIS fighter and voluntarily pursued military-style instruction from the terrorist group.
Prosecutors argued that she swore allegiance to ISIS and willingly took part in the organization’s activities.
ISIS authorized Salman to carry an assault rifle and issued her a document confirming that she had completed its training, officials said. The certificate was later found on her husband’s cellphone.
Halima Salman shields her face as she leaves federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Jurors saw video showing Salman with an assault rifle, a photograph of her beside an ISIS flag and text messages she sent to her husband expressing support for the group.
“With today’s verdict, Salman is held accountable for joining forces with a terrorist organization,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. of the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.
“ISIS ravaged Syria and caused havoc across the globe; our Office will continue to prosecute those who supported its murderous reign,” Nocella said.
After the verdict was read at the Brooklyn federal courthouse, Salman began crying and was comforted by members of her defense team.
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Her mother arrived after the jury announced it had reached a verdict and also broke down, crying on her knees in the gallery. Several members of Salman’s defense team appeared emotional as well, including lead attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg.
Halima Salman, charged with knowingly receiving military training from a foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State, attends her trial as a rifle is shown on screen at Brooklyn federal court in New York City, New York, US, October 13, 2026 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
The conviction followed indications that jurors were having difficulty reaching a unanimous decision. They were sent back twice to resume deliberations.
Salman’s lawyers presented her as a teenager swept into Syria’s civil war first by her father and later by her husband.
Born in Brooklyn, Salman testified that she thought her family was going to Turkey to visit relatives. Instead, she said, her father took them across the border and into Syria.
“I do blame my father for a lot of things that happened,” she told the jury.
Salman also testified that she did not want to be “married off” at 18 and had attempted to obtain a divorce.
Halima Salman covers her face while departing a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
“You try to leave, it is death,” Salman testified.
Salman testified that she eventually fled with other refugees and separated from her husband.
She was detained in Baghouz, Syria, in 2019 by forces fighting ISIS and was arrested by U.S. authorities after returning to New York in 2024.
Salman’s attorneys have asked the judge to set aside the verdict and acquit her, arguing that the evidence presented at trial was legally insufficient to sustain the conviction, according to The Associated Press.
