A New York woman whose father took her to Syria as a teenager and arranged her marriage to an Islamic State fighter was convicted Tuesday of receiving weapons training from the militant group.
asserted
father → take → group
Prosecutors said Halima Salman, a U.S. citizen, pledged loyalty to the extremist group and willingly participated in its activities.
asserted
Salman → say → activities
Jurors were shown a video of her holding an assault rifle, a photo of her with the group's flag, and loving text messages she sent her husband.
asserted
she → show → husband
"With today's verdict, Salman is held accountable for joining forces with a terrorist organization," U.S. attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.
asserted
Jr. → hold → statement
"ISIS ravaged Syria and caused havoc across the globe; our Office will continue to prosecute those who supported its murderous reign."
asserted
who → ravage → reign
The defense sought to portray Salman, now 27, as a teenager who was unwittingly trapped in Syria's civil war, first by her father and later by an extremist husband whose orders she had to follow.
asserted
she → seek → orders
"You try to leave, it is death," Salman testified.
asserted
Salman → try → ?
She said she refused to be "married off" at age 18 and repeatedly tried to get a divorce.
asserted
she → say → divorce
Salman's mother is an American, and her family traveled from the United States to Syria when she was young.
asserted
she → travel → Syria
Salman, her mother and even her defense attorneys wept after hearing the verdict.
asserted
Salman → weep → verdict
Still in tears, Salman and her mother later hugged each other across the railing between the audience and the courtroom well.
asserted
Salman → hug → audience
Jurors, who began deliberating Thursday, had repeatedly indicated Monday that they were struggling to reach a unanimous decision.
asserted
they → begin → decision
The members declined to comment as they left court after the verdict.
asserted
they → decline → verdict
Salman's lawyers also declined to comment.
asserted
lawyers → decline → ?
They are asking the judge to set aside the verdict and acquit her, as federal law allows if a judge finds the evidence presented at a trial doesn't legally support a conviction.
asserted
evidence → ask → conviction
Such requests are often made but rarely granted.
asserted
requests → make → ?
Salman's conviction carries the potential for up to 10 years in prison.
asserted
conviction → carry → prison
Sentencing currently is set for Feb. 2.
asserted
Sentencing → set → Feb.
The Islamic State group, which the U.S. government designates as a terror group, seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and declared the territory to be a caliphate.
asserted
territory → designate → 2014
Despite its defeat in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, the group still has sleeper cells that carry out deadly attacks in both countries.
asserted
that → have → countries
Born in Brooklyn, Salman was 17 when her father took the family on what she thought was a trip to visit relatives in Turkey in 2017.
asserted
she → bear → 2017
Instead, the van crossed into Syria, where masked gunmen surrounded them.
asserted
gunmen → cross → them
Salman said she was frightened and confused, and had no idea where her father was taking them.
asserted
father → say → them
"I do blame my father for a lot of things that happened," she testified.
asserted
she → blame → things
She said she spent three months in housing run by the Islamic State group before reuniting with her family.
asserted
she → say → family
They moved twice because their homes were hit by airstrikes.
asserted
homes → move → airstrikes
While there, she married German-Afghan IS fighter Abu Ali, according to court documents.
uncertain
she → marry → documents
On the first day of her marriage, Salman recalled, her husband told her: "Get up, stupid wife, it's time for you to be a wife."
asserted
you → recall → her
She spent much of the marriage doing domestic labor for her husband and mother-in-law.
asserted
She → spend → law
Her father died after being injured in an airstrike in 2018.
asserted
father → die → 2018
Prosecutors insisted Salman was dishonest and had more agency in Syria than she claimed.
asserted
she → insist → Syria
They got her to concede during cross-examination that she once sent a religious song about Osama bin Laden to her husband.
asserted
she → get → husband
Prosecutors also disputed Salman's account of a poor marriage, citing two loving text messages she sent to her husband.
asserted
she → dispute → husband
"The evidence shows that the defendant received military training from a violent, brutal, terrorist organization - an organization that is responsible for attacks across the world," Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Shami told the jury in a closing argument last week.
asserted
Shami → show → argument
Salman's husband took a video of her holding an assault rifle, which prosecutors said she had been trained to use.
asserted
she → take → rifle
When she testified, Salman said she was only complying with her husband's request to carry the rifle.
asserted
she → testify → rifle
She recalled that her last year of marriage was particularly harrowing, as constant bombings sometimes forced them to live in the streets, where she recalled seeing "dead bodies everywhere."
asserted
she → recall → bodies
The couple eventually fled with other refugees in a truck, where she told her husband they were going to separate, and Salman testified that she never saw him again.
asserted
she → flee → him
She was detained in Baghouz, Syria, in 2019 by forces opposed to the Islamic State group.
asserted
She → detain → group
She was arrested by U.S. authorities when she returned to New York in 2024.
asserted
she → arrest → 2024
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
