U.S. woman accused of trying to join IS

PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia woman was arrested Friday on charges she tried to join and martyr herself for the Islamic State group, a day after two women in New York were charged with plotting to wage jihad by building a bomb and using it for a Boston Marathon-type attack.

Keonna Thomas, 30, was preparing to fly to Spain with hopes of reaching Syria to fight with the terror group, authorities said. Instead, she was arrested at her family’s town house in a public housing development, which has three small U.S. flags adorning the porch.

Authorities said she communicated with an Islamic State group fighter in Syria who asked if she wanted to be part of a martyrdom operation. She told the fighter that the opportunity “would be amazing, … a girl can only wish,” according to the documents.

A federal magistrate ordered Thomas held pending a detention hearing Wednesday.

Thomas bought a ticket to fly to Barcelona, Spain, on March 29. She likely planned to take a bus to Istanbul and then reach Syria, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. Authorities put a stop to the trip when they raided her house March 27.

In court Friday, Thomas wore a burqa as she acknowledged she understood the charge against her. She was appointed a public defender, who did not comment on the charge.

Thomas is charged with attempting to provide material aid to terrorists, one of the same charges filed in 2010 against another Pennsylvania woman, Colleen LaRose, known as Jihad Jane.

“The incentive for terrorists is (also) … to create fear, just by that ability to recruit within the U.S. They want to show everyone they have geographic reach and appeal,” said defense lawyer Jeremy Ibrahim, a former Justice Department official who represented LaRose’s co-defendant Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, of Colorado. “But when you look at who actually responds to their calling, the women tend to be vulnerable.”

Authorities have said foreign terrorists seek U.S. women because their Western looks and American passports make it easier for them to travel overseas.

Thomas’ posts in support of the Islamic State group started in August 2013, when she reposted a Twitter photograph of a boy holding weapons, authorities said. She called herself Fatayat Al Khilafah and YoungLioness and tweeted posts such as “When you’re a mujahid, your death becomes a wedding,” according to the FBI affidavit filed in the case. A mujahid is one who engages in jihad, or holy war.