BROOKLYN – Two women were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction – bombs – that they intended to detonate in the U.S. and kill Americans, officials said.
Officials said Noelle Velentzas, 28, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, researched and acquired some of the components to build the following bombs:
- The components of a car bomb, like the one used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
- A fertilizer bomb, like the one used in the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City
- A pressure cooker bomb, like the one used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
The details of the crimes are outlined in the criminal complaint.
The investigation recently revealed that the defendants possessed propane gas tanks together with instructions from an online jihadist publication for transforming propane tanks into explosive devices, according to authorities.
“The defendants allegedly plotted to wreak terror by creating explosive devices and even researching the pressure cooker bombs used during the Boston Marathon bombing,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez stated. “We continue to pursue those who look to commit acts of terror and deter others who think they are beyond the reach of law enforcement.”
If convicted, both defendants face up to life in prison.
Both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Here are the allegations, according to the criminal complaint:
The defendants have repeatedly expressed their support for violent jihad.
For instance, in or about 2009, Siddiqui wrote a poem in a magazine published by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that exhorted readers to wage jihad and declared that there is “[n]o excuse to sit back and wait—for the skies rain martyrdom.”
More recently, Velentzas, who has characterized al-Qaeda founder Usama Bin Laden as one of her heroes, declared that she and Siddiqui are “citizens of the Islamic State”—a reference to the foreign terrorist organization that is also known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Less than two weeks ago, Velentzas, asked whether she had heard the news about the recent arrest of a former U.S. airman who had attempted to travel to Syria to wage jihad, stated that she did not understand why people were traveling overseas to engage in jihad when there were more opportunities of “pleasing Allah” in the United States, according to the complaint.