As U.S. citizens inspired by the international terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) attempt back-to-back lone-wolf attacks, tension is rippling across the U.S. mainland ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. On the 20th, a woman in her 30s radicalized through social media tried to blow up the New York State Capitol and indiscriminately kill politicians including senators, but was caught in an FBI sting operation. Instead of sending operatives directly to the United States, ISIS is increasingly brainwashing single actors living in the U.S. through online propaganda and directing remote attacks.
On the 20th, the U.S. Department of Justice said it arrested and charged 35-year-old Jessica Bowie of Albany, New York, on the 19th for providing support to a foreign terrorist organization. After pledging allegiance to ISIS online, she is accused of plotting a Capitol bombing with an FBI informant posing as an ISIS facilitator. Bowie was arrested in the act at a fast-food restaurant near the Capitol right after receiving a fake explosive device and a handgun from the informant.
According to the indictment, Bowie planned to detonate explosives at the New York State Capitol when state senators gathered, causing casualties and destroying documents. To that end, from the 21st of last month to the 9th of this month, she conducted reconnaissance around the Capitol five times and sent photos, authorities found. In her statement, she said she "wanted to kill about half of the roughly 200 people in the building." When told Muslims or children could also be victims, she answered, "I would feel uneasy, but God will forgive me." After blowing up the New York State Capitol, Bowie said she intended to move to Manhattan to carry out additional attacks targeting the Times Square New Year's Eve event or the White House and the president.
The preparations were meticulous and bold. About five years after converting to Islam, Bowie had been spreading messages hostile to the United States on social media. She described herself as "a girl who waved the Stars and Stripes right after the Sept. 11 attacks in the past, but now a person who praises the fallen twin towers stickers." She had no notable prior criminal record until this arrest. On the 5th, Bowie visited big-box retailer The Home Depot, Inc. and bought nails to use for a bomb. She then purchased a handgun and ammunition to return fire if police approached during the operation. She also handed $200 to the undercover informant as purported operational funds.
Craig Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the FBI's Albany office, said, "Bowie not only sought to kill lawmakers but wanted the complete collapse of our government." New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also issued a statement saying the state had strengthened security at government buildings in response to rising political violence.
Investigators view the case not as a mere personal aberration but as part of an evolved form of homegrown terrorism. According to statistics from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), ISIS-related incidents in the United States last year totaled 13, including two actual attacks, five foiled plots, and six cases of material support. In particular, there was a surge of teenage offenders involved in related cases. Of the seven cases combining actual attacks and plots, six involved suspects 19 or younger, and eight of the 11 total suspects were teenagers. In March, two 18- and 19-year-olds attempted an attack with TATP improvised explosives in front of the New York mayor's residence. In June, suspects on ISIS support charges were arrested in succession in Kansas, California, and elsewhere.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) noted in its 2026 Annual Threat Assessment that "teenagers in the United States are easily exposed to terrorist propaganda through social media." ODNI said that unlike when ISIS previously foregrounded Islamic religious ideology, it now pushes messages that tap into feelings of alienation and emotional agitation to reach young people on the U.S. mainland regardless of religion. This year's Annual Threat Assessment also said "the most likely terrorist attack scenario on the U.S. homeland is an attack by a domestic lone actor." The assessment suggests that, rather than infiltration by operatives trained overseas, individuals in the United States influenced by online propaganda launching attacks on their own are the more realistic threat now.
In fact, the means and methods of terrorism are rapidly evolving to fit younger, more individual traits. In January last year in New Orleans, American Shamsuddin Jabar, who killed 14 people by vehicle ramming and shooting, had scouted targets wearing smart glasses developed by big tech firm Meta, police found. He posted his own ISIS pledge video online but showed no sign of direct contact with the organization. Another suspect in Michigan who was plotting an attack on a military facility boldly used a drone to directly reconnoiter inside the installation.
Experts warned that although ISIS lost the territories where it mainly operated in Iraq and Syria, that does not mean the terrorist threat has disappeared. Rather than a single massive terrorist organization posing an overwhelming threat as in the past, the current structure features formal terrorist groups, loose networks, and lone actors coexisting. In such a structure, even without physical contact between terrorist groups and lone actors, individuals indoctrinated in cyberspace can radicalize remotely and launch deadly attacks at any time.
Mustafa Ayad, a research director at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said in a recent report, "Even after ISIS lost its physical foothold, its online support network continues to regenerate." He added, "Its ability to radicalize young Americans and move them to action remains intact," and analyzed that "despite platform enforcement and law enforcement pressure, ISIS supporters are rebuilding content and online communities."