A Pennsylvania woman, born and raised in the USA, has been charged with providing material support for terrorists in connection with a plot to kill Swedish artist Lars Vilk who drew a cartoon of Mohammed with the body of a dog.
She is also charged with trying to recruit others to commit terrorist acts.
Going by the handle "Jihad Jane" on the internet, authorities have had her under lock and key since last October, according to Carrie Johnson in the Washington Post:
Colleen Renee LaRose, 46, has been quietly held in U.S. custody since October on suspicions that she provided material support to terrorists and traveled to Sweden to launch an attack, according to federal officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is continuing to unfold.LaRose, who lived in suburban Philadelphia, allegedly recruited men and women in the United States, Europe and South Asia to "wage violent jihad," according to an indictment issued in Pennsylvania. She fueled her interests on the Internet over the past few years and used Web sites such as YouTube to post increasingly agitated messages, the court papers said.
As an American citizen whose appearance and passport allowed her to blend into Western society, LaRose represents one of the worst fears of intelligence and FBI analysts focused on identifying terrorist threats. She is one of only a handful of women to be charged with terrorism offenses in the United States, national security experts said.
Across the ocean Tuesday, Irish police conducted morning raids in Cork and Waterford, arresting four men and three women who had been under electronic surveillance by U.S. and Swedish authorities. The seven were suspected of plotting with LaRose to attack a Swedish artist, Lars Vilks, whose 2007 drawing of the prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog enraged Muslims, according to Irish news accounts.
How LaRose came to terrorism is a little murky. Evidently, she had an Egyptian boyfriend/fiancee who urged her to get involved in terrorist activities. But it is unclear when she began to plot to commit terrorist acts.
The FBI had her in their sights last July for posting on a pro-jihad website. Prosecutors apparently have recordings of some of her conversations which prove that she was eager to help terrorists. It is unknown whether she is helping authorities in their investigations, although there were two arrests in Ireland related to the assassination plot.
Blond, blue eyed woman - the last person you'd suspect getting on an air plane.
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