A Philadelphia woman, known as the “Young Lioness,” has been charged with attempting to travel overseas to join, fight with and die for the Islamic State.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has charged 30-year-old Keonna Thomas with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
A criminal complaint alleges that Ms. Thomas made statements in support of the Islamic State on Twitter. She later engaged in electronic communications with an Islamic State militant in Syria, who asked her if she wanted to participate in the Islamic State’s martyrdom operations, according to an FBI statement.
“Thomas responded by stating, ’That would be amazing … a girl can only wish,’ ” the FBI statement shows.
Ms. Thomas applied for a U.S. passport and conducted online research into various indirect routes to Turkey. She then purchased airline tickets to fly to Spain on March 29, according to the FBI statement.
The criminal charges come just as two New York women, Noelle Velentzas and Asia Siddiqui, have been accused by federal prosecutors of plotting to use weapons of mass destruction in the United States.
SEE ALSO: 2 N.Y. women arrested; U.S. authorities committed to stopping ‘homegrown extremists’
Federal prosecutors allege that the two women were preparing launching a terrorist attack in America on behalf of the Islamic State, according to a separate FBI statement. The women had researched how to build an explosive devise and acquiring components that would help them to build a car bomb, a fertilizer bomb and a pressure cooker bomb, according to the statement.
• Maggie Ybarra can be reached at mybarra@washingtontimes.com.
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