A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Halima Salman on Tuesday of knowingly receiving military-style training from ISIS while she lived in Syria, closing out a terrorism trial believed to be the first in which a woman accused of joining the group faced a U.S. federal jury.
Salman, 27, who also went by “Umm Khattab al-Muhajir,” is a U.S. citizen and former Brooklyn resident. She faces up to 10 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 2.
Federal prosecutors said Salman’s parents brought her and her eight siblings out of the United States in 2016, eventually taking the family into ISIS-controlled territory in Syria. The Justice Department said Salman was 18 when she married an ISIS fighter and voluntarily sought training from the group.
Prosecutors said she pledged loyalty to ISIS and took part in its activities. She was authorized by the group to carry an assault rifle and received a document certifying she had completed training, which was later recovered from her husband’s cellphone, officials said.
Jurors at trial saw video of Salman holding an assault rifle, a photo of her with an ISIS flag, and text messages she sent her husband that prosecutors said showed support for the group.
“With today’s verdict, Salman is held accountable for joining forces with a terrorist organization,” said Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “ISIS ravaged Syria and caused havoc across the globe; our Office will continue to prosecute those who supported its murderous reign.”
After the verdict was read at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Salman broke down crying and was comforted by her defense team. Her mother, who arrived as word spread that the jury had reached a decision, also wept, at one point on her knees in the gallery. Several members of the defense team, including lead attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg, appeared visibly emotional as well.
The jury had earlier told the court it was struggling to reach a unanimous decision and was sent back twice to keep deliberating before returning Tuesday’s verdict.
Defense Argued She Was a Teenager Swept Up in the War
Salman’s attorneys argued at trial that she was a teenager pulled into Syria’s civil war first by her father and later by her husband. Born in Brooklyn, she testified that she believed the family was traveling to visit relatives in Turkey when her father instead took them across the border into Syria.
“I do blame my father for a lot of things that happened,” Salman testified. She also said she had not wanted to be “married off” at 18 and had tried to get a divorce. “You try to leave, it is death,” she testified.
Salman said she eventually fled alongside other refugees and separated from her husband. She was detained in Baghouz, Syria, in 2019 by forces fighting ISIS, and was arrested by U.S. authorities after she returned to New York in 2024.
Her attorneys have since asked the judge to set aside the verdict and acquit her, arguing the evidence presented at trial was legally insufficient to sustain the conviction, according to The Associated Press.
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