Manhattan Courtroom: Woman Found Guilty of ISIS Training

Federal courts in the United States have long tracked the return of Americans who traveled to conflict zones in the Middle East. On Tuesday, a jury in a Brooklyn federal court convicted Halima Salman of receiving weapons training from Islamic State militants.

The verdict concludes a trial centered on Salman, a 27-year-old US citizen, and her time in Syria between 2017 and 2019. Prosecutors argued that the defendant voluntarily pledged loyalty to the group and participated in its operations. During the proceedings, jurors reviewed a video of Salman holding an assault rifle, a photograph showing her with the group’s flag, and text messages she sent to her husband. Joseph Nocella Jr, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, stated that the outcome held Salman accountable for joining forces with a terrorist organization.

The defense team offered a different narrative, portraying Salman as a teenager who was swept up in the civil war by her father and later by an extremist husband. They argued she lacked agency and was compelled to follow orders. Salman testified that leaving was not an option. She told the court, "You try to leave, it is death." She also claimed she attempted to secure a divorce after refusing to be married off at age 18.

Salman, who was born in Brooklyn, was 17 when her father took the family on a trip to Turkey in 2017. She believed they were visiting relatives, but the vehicle crossed into Syria and was surrounded by masked gunmen. She described the period as frightening and confusing, noting that she blamed her father for much of what occurred. The family lived in group-run housing for three months before reuniting, and they moved twice after airstrikes damaged their homes. Her father died in 2018 following injuries sustained in an airstrike.

Salman described her marriage as a period of domestic labor for her husband and mother-in-law. She said the final year was the most difficult due to constant bombings, which sometimes forced the family to live on the streets. She testified that she told her husband they would separate while fleeing in a truck with other refugees. She did not see him again after that moment. Forces opposing Islamic State detained her in Baghuz, Syria, in 2019. US authorities arrested her upon her return to New York in 2024.

Prosecutors challenged the defense’s portrayal of Salman as a passive victim. They highlighted her admission on cross-examination that she once sent her husband a religious song about Osama bin Laden. They also used two affectionate text messages to question her account of a strained marriage. Regarding the rifle video, which her husband recorded, Salman stated she was complying with his request to carry the weapon.

Following the verdict, Salman, her mother, and her defense attorneys wept in the courtroom. Salman and her mother embraced over the railing that separates the audience from the well. Jurors began deliberations on Thursday and indicated on Monday that they were struggling to reach a unanimous decision. They declined to comment as they left the building. Her lawyers are asking the judge to set aside the verdict and acquit her, a request that is common in federal law but rarely granted.

The conviction carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years. Sentencing is scheduled for 2 February. The US government designates Islamic State as a terrorist organization. The group seized large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and declared a caliphate. It was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, though sleeper cells continue to carry out attacks in both countries.