Brooklyn Woman Convicted in ISIS Training Case

A Manhattan jury has found Halima Salman guilty of receiving weapons training from Islamic State forces.

Salman, a 27-year-old US citizen, was convicted on Tuesday in a federal court in Brooklyn. The verdict resolves a trial where prosecutors argued she willingly joined the group, while the defense portrayed her as a teenager trapped in a war zone.

Salman was born in Brooklyn. In 2017, when she was 17, her father took the family on a trip to visit relatives in Turkey. The van crossed into Syria and was surrounded by masked gunmen. She testified that she was frightened and confused during the crossing. She stated, "I do blame my father for a lot of things that happened." Her father died in 2018 after being injured in an airstrike.

The jury reviewed a video of Salman holding an assault rifle and a photo of her with the group's flag. They also examined affectionate text messages she sent to her husband. Joseph Nocella Jr, the US attorney based in Brooklyn, said the verdict held Salman "accountable for joining forces with a terrorist organization." Assistant US attorney Amanda Shami told jurors that Salman received military training from a "violent, brutal, terrorist organization."

The defense argued that Salman was unwittely caught in Syria's civil war. She testified that she was "married off" at 18 and repeatedly tried to obtain a divorce. She told the court, "You try to leave, it is death." She described her last year in Syria as the hardest, with constant bombings forcing them to live in the streets.

Opposing forces detained her in Baghuz, Syria, in 2019. US authorities arrested her when she returned to New York in 2024. Jurors began deliberating on Thursday. They indicated on Monday that they were struggling to reach a unanimous decision. Salman, her mother, and her defense lawyers wept after the verdict was read.

Her lawyers are asking the judge to set aside the verdict and acquit her. Such requests are common but rarely granted. The conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Sentencing is set for 2 February.