A federal jury in Brooklyn on Tuesday convicted Halima Salman, 27, of receiving military-type training from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, known as ISIS, in Syria. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the verdict. The United States has designated ISIS a foreign terrorist organization.
Salman is a U.S. citizen and former Brooklyn resident, also known as “Umm Khattab al-Muhajir,” according to the department. She was convicted after a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Natasha C. Merle. The department said she received the training from the Khatiba Nusaybah, a military battalion made up of female ISIS members.
According to the department’s summary of the evidence at trial, Salman’s parents traveled with her and her eight siblings out of the United States in September and October 2016. Their destination was ISIS-controlled territory in Syria.
In late 2016 or early 2017, the department said, Salman was 18 and married to an ISIS fighter in Syria. She voluntarily sought military-type training and received authorization from ISIS to carry ammunition and an assault rifle. She also received a document certifying that she had completed the training.
A copy of that document was found on her husband’s cellphone after the phone was recovered from the battlefield, the department said. The phone also held photos of Salman with an ISIS flag in the background. It held a video that shows her brandishing an AK-47 rifle.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said there is “no excuse” for aligning with or receiving training from ISIS. He said the verdict shows that people who support the group will be found and prosecuted. U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York said his office will continue to prosecute people who supported ISIS.
Jarod Brown, an assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, noted that nearly a decade has passed since Salman sought the training. James C. Barnacle, the assistant director in charge of the FBI New York Field Office, said anyone found guilty of supporting a foreign terrorist organization will be investigated and prosecuted.
The FBI New York Field Office investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs helped obtain evidence overseas. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Amir and Amanda Shami of the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with help from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
The department’s announcement did not say when Salman will be sentenced or what penalty she faces.