The ISIS logo as seen on a mobile device on Jan. 22, 2019. Photo: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
An Alabama woman and New York City man have pleaded guilty to trying to fight for the ISIS terrorist group.
Driving the news: Arwa Muthana, 30, and her husband, James Bradley, 21, attempted to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS, prosecutors say. Bradley had also allegedly expressed a desire to support ISIS by committing a terror attack in the U.S.
Details: In 2020, Bradley told an undercover law enforcement officer about the possibility of attacking the U.S. military academy in West Point, according to the Justice Department.
- He allegedly said that if he couldn't leave the U.S., he'd do "something" in the U.S. instead. The two also "accessed, posted and distributed extremist online content," the DOJ said.
- After much planning, Bradley and Muthana set out to travel to the Middle East via a cargo ship departing from New Jersey on March 31, 2021, prosecutors say.
- They were arrested as they were boarding. Later, Muthana allegedly said during an interview that she was "willing to fight and kill Americans if it was for Allah."
Worth noting: Muthana is the older sister of Hoda Muthana, who joined ISIS after traveling to Syria in 2014, AL.com notes.
- The younger Muthana has since expressed interest in returning to the U.S. while being detained in a Kurdish refugee camp with her young son. A judge ruled in 2019 that the U.S. is not obligated to help her return, and the Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal this year.