27-Year-Old New York Woman Convicted of Receiving ISIS Training

Halima Salman, 27, a U.S. citizen, was convicted Oct. 27, 2026 by a federal jury in Brooklyn of knowingly receiving weapons or military-type training from ISIS after a weeklong trial before U.S. District Judge Natasha C. Merle. The charge carries up to 10 years. Prosecutors cited a training certificate from her husband's cellphone, a video of her holding an AK-47, a photo with an ISIS flag, and text messages. She was detained in Baghouz, Syria in 2019, held until 2024, returned to the U.S. and arrested. U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the verdict holds her accountable for joining a terrorist organization. FBI Assistant Director James C. Barnacle Jr. said she knowingly sought terrorist training and subscribed to ISIS beliefs. The defense said her father took her to Syria as a teenager and she was forced into marriage and trapped. Salman testified "You try to leave, it is death," blamed her father, and said she fled with refugees, told her husband they were separating, and never saw him again. Prosecutors cited loving texts and a song about Osama bin Laden she sent him. Accounts differ on travel via Turkey or Russia and Turkey. AP reports sentencing set for Feb. 2; other sources said no date was announced. Her lawyers asked the judge to set aside the verdict and acquit her.