New York woman convicted of Islamic State military training after being taken to Syria at 17

Verdict and sentencing

A federal jury in New York found Halima Salman, 27, guilty on Tuesday, 27 October, of receiving military training from the Islamic State (IS) group. The jury had deliberated for three days after a weeklong trial, and jurors had signalled on Monday that they were struggling to reach a unanimous decision. Prosecutors said she pledged loyalty to the group and took part in its activities willingly. The charge carries up to 10 years in prison, and sentencing is scheduled for 2 February, according to Notícias ao Minuto. Salman and her mother wept when the verdict was read, and they embraced across the railing that separates the public gallery from the courtroom. Salman's lawyers asked the judge to overturn the verdict and acquit her, a request that is rarely granted. Jurors declined to comment as they left the courtroom.

From teenager to bride

Salman was 17 when her father took the family into IS-controlled territory in Syria, according to The New York Times and the Independent. The Justice Department dates the trip to late 2016 or early 2017, when she was 18, a detail that differs from other accounts. The family included her parents and eight siblings. The Justice Department says she married an IS fighter on arrival, while her lawyer, Samuel Jacobson, argued that she was mainly a victim of the decision to take a minor into IS territory and said her marriage had been arranged. After arriving she spent three months in housing run by the group before reuniting with her family, and they moved twice after airstrikes hit their homes. At trial Salman described life under the group in stark terms.

“You try to leave, it is death”

She also testified that she refused to be married off at 18 and repeatedly tried to get a divorce.

Evidence of training

Prosecutors showed jurors a video of Salman holding an assault rifle, a photograph of her with the group's flag and loving text messages she sent her husband. According to the Justice Department, a document certifying that she had received military training was recovered from her husband's phone, and it said she was given permission to carry weapons and ammunition. Assistant US Attorney Amanda Shami told the jury in closing argument:

“The evidence shows that the defendant received military training from a violent, brutal, terrorist organization”

Joseph Nocella Jr., the US Attorney in Brooklyn, said the verdict holds Salman responsible for joining forces with a terrorist organisation. John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general for national security, said there was no justification for allying with the group or taking training from it.

Capture, return and disputed timeline

According to 7sur7, Syrian fighters captured Salman and several relatives in 2019 and held them in a camp for several years. Accounts of her return to the United States differ. The New York Times says she was brought back with her family in May 2019 as part of a State Department repatriation effort, while 7sur7 gives 2024 and says she was arrested as soon as she landed. She attended the trial free after being released on bail. A judicial source told 7sur7 that this was the first time an American woman had faced such charges at a trial on US soil. A 2022 report by George Washington University counted 83 Americans who reached Iraq or Syria and joined the group, out of hundreds who tried.