A middle-class mother from upstate New York who is accused of giving $30,000 to a deadly terrorist organization became increasingly observant of Islam after the Oct. 7 attacks and allegedly required her young daughter to wear a hijab, neighbors told The Post.
Catherine Beth Washburn, a 37-year-old mother of two from Irondequoit, is accused of leading a homegrown anti-Israel extremist group. Neighbors said she began wearing Muslim clothing shortly after Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel, describing her as distant and unfriendly.
Neighbor Donna Glover said she once heard Washburn yell at her daughter, now 6, to “come inside and get dressed up” in her hijab.
Glover said Washburn was not dressed that way when she moved into the quiet neighborhood outside Rochester about five years ago. But after the war in Gaza began, Glover said, “she just turned more Muslim.”
When The Post visited the ranch-style home Thursday, a worn Palestinian flag was still displayed outside. Neighbors said that about three months earlier, they saw a SWAT team force its way through the door during a raid.
“I have a feeling they were trying to push, well not them, but her, really was trying to push [Islam] on the kids,” a next-door neighbor said. The neighbor, who declined to be identified, described Washburn as “very, very” strange, using an expletive.
The same neighbor said he briefly spoke Wednesday with Washburn’s husband, Adam.
According to the neighbor, Adam Washburn appeared to be living apart from the family and spoke harshly about his wife, calling her a “dumb bitch” and saying he would not help post her bail.
Washburn allegedly spearheaded the Direct Action Movement for Palestinian Liberation, an anti-Israel group formed in the wake of Oct. 7 that encourages sabotage and property destruction, according to prosecutors in the Western District of New York.
She is believed to have helped funnel $30,000 in cryptocurrency — through 80 separate transfers — to a terrorist in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, once telling him “I wish every day were October 7.”
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Old media photos show her as a modest middle class mmother of two children, smiling with her husband.
However, her social media accounts are now filled with pics of her wearing a hijab and anti-Israel diatribes — including one post showing the home addresses of so-called “Zionists.”
It’s unclear exactly when she became radicalized.
In her messages with the PIJ fighter, Washburn allegedly said, “If I lived in Gaza, I would fight alongside the resistance.”
She also said she hated Jews “very much” and wished Israel “would disappear,” the feds claimed.
Washburn took a selfie of herself and placed the image next to the Hamas flag and two hand grenades, according to prosecutors.
But she also seemed to predict her downfall in a November 2025 message, commenting that she would face hard time for her involvement with the anti-Israel group.
“Based on my passed [sic] fundraising and posting Im [sic] gonna get put away for a few life times,” she wrote adding a laughing emoji, according to prosecutors.
She is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. She faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.
Washburn appeared in federal court in Buffalo on Wednesday where she was held without bail.
Washburn’s attorney didn’t return The Post’s request for comment.
