Federal authorities said Thursday that an alleged terror plot targeting Albany was stopped before it could be carried out.
According to officials, a New York woman is accused of planning what they described as “a major attack” on the New York State Capitol building.
Federal prosecutors in the Northern District of New York charged 35-year-old Jessica Bowie in a criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations. If found guilty, Bowie could face up to 20 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.
Bowie, an Albany resident, allegedly planned between July 16 and Aug. 17 to use explosives in an attack on the New York State Capitol, according to court filings.
The FBI said the investigation relied on undercover law enforcement work, which ultimately led to Bowie’s arrest.
“Bowie had plotted to use an explosive device to attack the New York State Capitol and the New York state senators,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone said. “The allegations in this complaint are deeply disturbing. That someone would harbor such hatred toward our way of life and seek to target the New York State Capitol and New York state senators – that’s an attack on democracy itself, and one we will not tolerate.”
Sarcone further alleged that Bowie became radicalized on the internet and circulated hateful, violent messages aimed at Americans.
An affidavit in the case claims Bowie conducted surveillance of the state Capitol on five separate occasions, with each visit recorded by security cameras.
She was communicating with an FBI source posing as an ISIS infiltrator.
“I would like to [target] state capitol,” Bowie allegedly wrote to the source. She also allegedly told another source she was receiving help to plan “a major attack.”
In one message to the source, Bowie is alleged to have written that she wanted “to destroy as much of the building as possible and kill the senators while they are meeting … I want them to lose alot [sic] of important documents as well.”
She added, “I want it to have a affect on the American system.”
The complaint includes an image of Bowie at a Rensselaer Home Depot, buying nails and other supplies for a makeshift bomb. FBI sources met with her and gave her $200 for the purchase, and investigators say she said she’d murder her roommate if her roommate found out. They say she planned to bring the device into the capitol in a DoorDash delivery bag, and hoped to kill at least 100 people.
“She continued, as referenced in the complaint, ‘I don’t wanna take this risk and kill what, two or three people, what good is that?'” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Tremaroli.
She is alleged to have met in person with two other confidential sources, who recorded the meeting. In that meeting, she is alleged to have indicated she wanted to go through with other attacks.
The affidavit says Bowie allegedly said attacking the White House would be too difficult, and she would revisit that at a later date. “We definitely want to make sure the senators get killed for sure,” she is alleged to have said.
The affidavit says she wanted to take out half of the staff there.
Bowie, the affidavit alleges, converted to Islam five years ago and formally made an oath of allegiance to ISIS in May of this year, as well as posted online “praise be to Allah for September 11th.”
The criminal complaint says Bowie also told FBI sources she wanted a gun “so if the cops do get towards me during the operation I can shoot back.”
Investigators say she met with FBI sources this week, gave them $150 for the gun and a $200 donation to the bombmaker. When she left the source’s vehicle, she was arrested. She was allegedly in possession of a firearm, magazine, and ammunition that she carried in a bag she brought to the meeting, in addition to a purported explosive device. The FBI allegedly also found knives and a handwritten bayah – a formal oath of allegiance – on her.
“She told a source she went from a little girl waving an American flag after 9/11 to now having stickers of the falling towers,” Tremaroli said.
After being arrested, she allegedly admitted she knew she was going to jail. “There’s no helping me,” she allegedly told FBI Albany agents.
The FBI said Bowie planned to flee the country after the attack, but said she eventually wanted to come back and attack Times Square on a New Year’s Eve in the future.
“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,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. “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.”
Hochul added, “There is no immediate threat at this time.”
“This shows you the dangerous of terrorism. We must always be vigilant. They found this possible perpetrator, they found this evil person, and they stopped her in her tracks,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said.
“This is just the latest example of this FBI stopping an alleged terrorist in their tracks – 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,” FBI Director Kash Patel posted on social media.
