Just one day after two ISIS-inspired New York City women were arrested for planning a bomb attack, another woman was arrested in Philadelphia for attempting to join the Iraq and Syria-based Islamic State.
Keonna Thomas, 30, was arrested Friday and charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, the Associated Press reported.
Federal agents say she booked a March 29 flight to Barcelona and probably intended to make her way to Syria after taking a bus to Istanbul. But law enforcement thwarted the alleged plan when they raided her townhouse two days before her flight.
According to an FBI affidavit, Thomas began showing support for the Islamic State in August 2013 when she shared on Twitter a photo of a child holding weapons, the AP reported.
"When you're a mujahid, your death becomes a wedding," she allegedly tweeted, referring to the term used for someone who participates in a jihad.
Thomas went by the alias YoungLioness and Fatayat Al Khilafah, according to the affidavit.
Authorities also say she had contact with an ISIS member in Syria who asked if she wanted to join their cause.
That "would be amazing...a girl can only wish," Thomas said according to court records. She tried raising money to support her travels.
A judge ordered Thomas held until a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday, the AP reported.
In New York, 28-year-old Noelle Velentzas and 31-year-old Aisa Siddiqui were ordered held without bail during their Thursday appearance in Brooklyn Federal court, WABC reported.
Both women, roommates from Queens, are accused of planning to make explosive devices and detonate them in a mass-terror attack.
Siddiqui entered a not guilty plea while Valentzas' attorney did not comment.
