Philadelphia Sheboon Charged With Trying To Join ISIS

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/04/03/philadelphia-woman-charged-with-trying-to-join-isis/

Philadelphia Woman Charged With Trying To Join ISIS
April 3, 2015 2:15 PM
By Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A Philadelphia woman faces charges of trying to join a terrorist organization, and was about to go overseas to act on her beliefs.

She made a brief court appearance Friday before a Federal Magistrate in Philadelphia.

The United States Attorney’s Office says 30-year-old Keonna Thomas, also known as Fatayat Al Khilafah, was ready to join, fight with and martyr herself on behalf of Islamic State of Iraq, also known as ISIL. She also referred to herself as the “Young Lioness.”

With her hands handcuffed behind her back, she was led before the judge by federal marshals wearing a niqab covering her face and a burqa covering her body, with only her eyes visible.

She faces charges of knowingly attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The Complaint alleges that Thomas posted on Twitter “If we truly knew the realities … we all would be rushing to join our brothers in the front lines pray ALLAH accept us as shuhada,” which means martyrs.

Thomas allegedly was in electronic communications with an ISIL fighter in Syria, who asked Thomas if she wanted to be a part of a martyrdom operation.

It appears as though Thomas began stating her allegiance to ISIL as early as August 18, 2013, with posts or reposts on Twitter. Her account has been suspended. One alleged post apparently showed a little boy with a semi-automatic weapon around his shoulders and Thomas voicing her support.

Outside her home, two American flags could be seen hanging from her porch.

Investigators say in early February of this year, she submitted an application for a U.S. Passport.

According to the complaint filed by the United States Attorney’s Office, by mid-February she sent an electronic communication to a radical Islamic cleric seeking help from a known overseas ISIL fighter regarding “routes” and her “travel plan.”

A court-appointed lawyer with the Federal Defenders Association will represent Thomas at a detention and probable cause hearing next Wednesday. A federal prosecutor called her a flight risk and danger, and will argue for detention.

If convicted, Thomas faces a maximum possible sentence of 15-years in prison.

The arrest does not appear to be linked to the arrests of two women in New York City who also were allegedly planning to join the same terrorist group. It appears that this instance was what terrorism officials fear most: a potential “lone wolf” attempt.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...f-Trying-to-Join-ISIS-in-Court-299159631.html

Philly Mom Accused of Trying to Join ISIS in Court

A Philadelphia woman arrested on charges she tried to join and martyr herself for the Islamic State group is due in court for a detention hearing.

A judge is to decide Thursday if 30-year-old Keonna Thomas must remain jailed or be freed on bail pending a trial.

Thomas has been in custody since her arrest on Friday, the day after two women in New York were charged with plotting a Boston Marathon-type attack.

Prosecutors say Thomas was preparing to fly to Spain with hopes of reaching Syria to fight with the terror group.

She was arrested at her family's town house in a public housing development. Three small U.S. flags adorned the porch.

Prosecutors say Thomas also goes by Fatayat Al Khilafah and YoungLioness.

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...f-trying-to-join-isis-group-to-remain-jailed/

Philly Woman Accused Of Trying To Join ISIL To Remain Jailed
April 9, 2015 3:11 PM
By Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A Philadelphia woman today was ordered held on charges of trying to join the terrorist organization “Islamic State.” A federal magistrate agreed with federal prosecutors that she’s a danger and a flight risk, and should be detained pending further court proceedings.

Keonna Thomas, 30, faces charges of knowingly attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Assistant US attorney Jennifer Williams says Thomas was ready to join, fight with, and martyr herself on behalf of ISIL.

“Since the time of the search warrant and arrest of Ms. Thomas, there have been comments by a close associate on Twitter threatening a martyrdom operation here in the US, and also violence at the prison,” Williams says, while refusing to say whether that close associate was one of the co-conspirators named in the federal affadavit.

But ssistant federal public defender Kathleen Gaughan says Thomas was arrested five days after agents searched her home on North 10th Street, near Girard, and that time lag shows she’s not at risk to flee.

“If there is an indictment that is returned by the government, Keonna Thomas will be pleading not guilty,” Gaughan adds.

Her defense lawyers also point out Thomas has no criminal record, and has nine- and seven-year-old daughters, her mother, a grandmother, and a brother all living in their home, along with a strong family network.

The next steps will be an indictment followed, presumably, by a trial.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...ho-Wanted-to-Die-for-ISIS-Feds-302929281.html

Not Guilty Plea From Philly Mom Who Wanted to Die for ISIS: Feds
By NBC10 Staff

A Philadelphia mom who investigators said was ready to leave her children, join the terrorist group ISIS and ultimately martyr herself, plead not guilty Thursday.

Keonna Thomas communicated with ISIS sympathizers using names including "YoungLioness" and "Fatayat Al Khilafah," according to federal prosecutors.

The 30-year-old mother of two had bought a ticket to leave the country. Prosecutors contend the only reason she didn't get on the plane was because federal agents served a search warrant at her home in the week leading up to her flight.

Thomas began communicating with a man who identified himself as a violent jihadi fighter in December of 2013, according to a criminal complaint. She talked with him about donating money "to the ISIS brothers" and traveling to get more money. Posts from her Twitter accounts also included statements about dying for the cause.

Thomas faces 15 years in prison if found guilty

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/politics/Terrorism-Case-Young-Lioness-ISIS-363526301.html

Philly Mom Who Allegedly Wanted to Die for ISIS to Stand Trial
By NBC10 Staff
Published 45 minutes ago

A federal judge has let stand the case against a Philadelphia woman accused of plotting to join the Islamic State group in Syria.

Keonna Thomas, 30, was arrested in April at a public housing development in Philadelphia and charged with attempting to provide material support for a foreign terrorist organization.

Authorities allege that she was preparing to fly to Spain with hopes of reaching Syria and told an Islamic State group fighter that taking part in a martyrdom operation "would be amazing."

Authorities said she called herself Fatayat Al Khilafah and "YoungLioness" as she sought to raise money online, tweeting posts such as "When you're a mujahid, your death becomes a wedding." A mujahid is one who engages in jihad.

Defense attorneys sought to have the charge dismissed, arguing that it violated her rights to freedom of speech and association and was improper for other legal reasons.

But U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson rejected the arguments Wednesday, saying that the case should be decided at trial and that providing "material support" isn't covered by free speech protections, WHYY reported.

Thomas faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The charge she faces is one of the same counts filed in 2010 against another Pennsylvania woman, Colleen LaRose, known as Jihad Jane, and two co-defendants in a plot that prosecutors said also involved online messages and recruitment for overseas terror suspects. LaRose was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to plotting to kill a Swedish artist who had offended Muslims.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...ness-Islamic-State-Guilty-Plea-394186861.html

Philly Woman Pleads Guilty to Trying to Join ISIS
Published 3 hours ago

A Philadelphia woman has pleaded guilty to plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 32-year-old Keonna Thomas pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

Defense attorney Kathleen Gaughan said her client has accepted responsibility and "looks forward to putting this behind her and being a mother to her two young children."

Thomas, who was arrested in April at a public housing development in north Philadelphia, is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 17.

Authorities allege that she called herself Fatayat Al Khilafah and "YoungLioness" as she sought to raise money online, and once told an Islamic State group fighter that taking part in a martyrdom operation "would be amazing."

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/09/06/keonna-thomas-isis-prison/

Philadelphia Mother Who Attempted To Join ISIS Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison
September 6, 2017 6:13 PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia mother who admitted to plotting to travel to Syria to aid the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group and spent years spreading the terrorist organization’s message online said she isn’t an evil person before being sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday.

Authorities said Keonna Thomas lived a double life, one as a hardworking mother of two children, the other as an outspoken online personality who spread violent propaganda, took steps to travel to the Middle East and maintained close relationships with radicalized figures, including an ISIS fighter who prosecutors said she married online.

“I’m not a evil or malicious person,” Thomas, 33, said. “I’m just someone who, I guess, at one point, was impressionable.”

She was arrested in 2015 and pleaded guilty last year to attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group.

Prosecutors compiled Thomas’ social media postings and her correspondence with a known overseas ISIS fighter, a radical Islamic cleric and a Somalia-based jihadi fighter to establish evidence of her willingness to support and join the terrorist organization.

In 2015, she said it “would be amazing” to participate in a martyrdom operation around the same time she bought an electronic visa and conducted online research regarding indirect routes into Turkey, a frequented point of entry for people seeking to slip into Syria and join the

Islamic State group, according to an affidavit that cited a Islamic State group manual.

Thomas, who went by the online moniker “YoungLioness,” also sought to raise money for the terrorist organization, re-posting a statement from a Twitter user that read, “Did you know… For as little as $100 you can provide a #Mujahid with his basic necessities for 1 month?” A mujahid is person who engages in jihad.

But as prosecutors lined up examples of her descent into racialization, Thomas’ attorneys depicted her as woman with a troubled soul. They said she fell prey to promises of an Islamic utopia in Syria that could give her the kind of pious life she couldn’t get in the local Muslim community.

“She lost her way, in a very, very real way,” her attorney, Kathleen Gaughan, said at Thomas’ sentencing hearing.

Pennsylvania Joins Lawsuit Over Elimination Of DACA Program

Thomas spent countless hours between 2013 and 2015 absorbing Islamic State propaganda and became enthralled with the idea of marrying a faithful Muslim man, according to a her attorneys. And when she found what she was looking for through communications with a member of the Islamic State group, Thomas made arrangements to join him in the Middle East.

“Trust me u haven’t seens anything yet,” the Islamic State member wrote to her in December 2014 after she congratulated him for starting to train with the terrorist group in Raqqa, Syria, according to an affidavit. “U need to be here to see it.”