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Jessica Bowie, a 35-year-old woman from upstate New York, is now facing terrorism charges after authorities allege she converted to Islam, swore allegiance to the Islamic State group and plotted to bomb the State Capitol building — just weeks before the U.S. will mark 25 years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

According to the FBI, she became a Muslim five years ago and took on a new name, Aisha Saif.

The FBI arrested Bowie after she allegedly enlisted a group of confidential informants in her plot, thinking they were ISIS handlers, under the impression she was arranging for them to turn bomb-making materials she'd purchased into an explosive device and to provide her a handgun.

FBI ARRESTS WOMAN WHO ALLEGEDLY PLOTTED ISIS-LINKED ATTACK ON NEW YORK STATE CAPITOL BUILDING

Bowie allegedly praised the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks that killed 2,977 people on Sept. 11, 2001, according to court documents.

The federal criminal complaint has few details about her alleged embrace of terrorism from before May 2026, but authorities say she was radicalized at some point online.

MISSOURI MAN’S EXPLOSIVES TUTORIAL HELPED NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST PLAN NYE ATTACK, FEDS SAY

She had also allegedly lost multiple social media accounts for violating their terms of service with her posts, according to the criminal complaint — in separate posts in May, she allegedly wrote about poisoning "infidels" and "praise be to Allah for September 11th." By the end of the month, she'd allegedly sworn allegiance to ISIS.

"The key with these sorts of cases is the initial lead," said Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor with experience working counter-terrorism cases. "This can come in a number of ways. We criticize social media plenty, but the fact that she was repeatedly banned on these platforms could have been a crucial pointer."

By July, according to the complaint, she was allegedly using encrypted apps to post support for radical Islamic terror and anti-American rhetoric.

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On July 16, she allegedly told an FBI informant that she had begun thinking about "Jehad" more seriously over the past several months. She was also allegedly posting online about how she was sharing ISIS propaganda and attempting to recruit.

In July and August, Bowie allegedly made five visits to scout the State Capitol.

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On Aug. 5, photos released by the Justice Department allegedly show her buying bomb-making materials at a Rensselaer Home Depot store, including a large bucket of nails that was allegedly meant for shrapnel. "We definitely want to make sure the senators get killed for sure," she allegedly told an informant.

On Aug. 13, she allegedly asked an FBI informant whom she thought was an ISIS operative for help obtaining a handgun, according to the complaint.

On Aug. 19, the FBI arrested her after she allegedly gave $350 to a pair of FBI informants and got out of their vehicle carrying an inert handgun and dummy explosive that they'd given her, according to the complaint.

"There's no helping me," she allegedly told the FBI after being read her Miranda rights. "You guys know enough...I'm going to prison for the rest of my life."

She added that she'd already looked up potential sentences online.

"Material support is up to 20 years in prison," she said, according to the complaint. "I already googled it before. I know I'm going to jail."

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Earlier that day, she allegedly told an FBI informant that she had grown from "a little girl waving an American flag after 9/11 to now having stickers of the falling towers." She was 10 years old on Sept. 11, 2001.

Bowie, who also has addresses listed in Schenectady, allegedly planned to hide a bomb in a DoorDash delivery bag at the New York State Capitol, according to the complaint.

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"I want to destroy as much of the building as possible and kill the senators while they are meeting," she allegedly told an informant. "I want them to lose a lot of important documents as well"

Then she allegedly wanted to escape to Syria before returning to the U.S. in the future for more attacks.

A woman who picked up a call to the number listed for Bowie's mother hung up when contacted by Fox News Digital Friday.

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Sammy "The Bull" Gravano lived by the Mafia's code of loyalty for years, but secretly recorded footage of John Gotti — and what Gravano says came next ultimately convinced him the oath was dead and it was time to switch sides.

"I said, 'Okay.' And I walked away," Gravano recalled on the "Hang Out With Sean Hannity" podcast.

"Well, as I walked away, I said, 'F--- the Mafia, f--- the oath and f--- John Gotti — I'm switching sides. He wants to play chess with me. Let's play chess.'"

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At the center of that decision were secretly recorded conversations in which Gotti discussed the Castellano hit and other mob activity, recordings Gravano said initially left him frustrated with the boss.

Gravano said Gotti's loose talk initially angered him, but the final straw came later.

"At first, I was annoyed in a way, like, man, you don't know when to shut your f---ing mouth," he said. "But it went beyond that."

Gravano said the situation escalated after their arrests, when Gotti sought to control the lawyers and Gravano learned how the defense planned to address the tapes before a jury.

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"They're going to turn around, including your lawyer, and say to the jurors, 'You heard the tapes. Sammy's a monster. Killed all these people, took over the businesses and everything. Poor John Gotti. You hear him complaining on the tape. It's not him. It's him,'" Gravano recalled.

The strategy, as Gravano described it, reflected a deeply ingrained Mafia mentality: "The boss must go free" — even if that meant casting him as the fall guy.

After that exchange, Gravano said, he walked away and resolved to cooperate with the government.

He would later learn that Gotti's intentions toward him were much more sinister.

"I find this out way later, so it's not the reason I cooperated – but I find out later he's going to take me out," Gravano recalled.

DEA AGENTS WHO HUNTED PABLO ESCOBAR REVEAL CHILLING CALL WHERE HE ORDERED TORTURE WHILE ON PHONE WITH WIFE

"But he wants Frankie [LoCascio] to go around to the captains and explain Sammy has lost his mind. He's really killing all kinds of f---ing people. It's crazy," Gravano added.

In his wide-ranging interview with Sean Hannity, Gravano also pulled back the curtain on a life spent inside one of America's most notorious crime families — from taking the Mafia's blood oath and participating in 19 murders to helping orchestrate the infamous hit on Gambino boss Paul Castellano.

Watch the full "Hang Out With Sean Hannity" interview with Sammy "The Bull" Gravano on iHeartRadio, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Ukraine is buying a homegrown glide bomb that could help its pilots strike Russian forces from a safer distance while relying less on weapons supplied by the U.S. and Europe.

The new weapon is called the Vyrivniuvach, or "Equalizer." It was developed by Ukrainian company DG Industry with support from Brave1, a government-backed defense technology group.

A Ukrainian military official told Ukrinform that the bomb has finished testing and is now being bought for the armed forces. Fox News Digital has reached out to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense for more details.

Until now, Ukraine’s warplanes have relied heavily on U.S.-supplied JDAM-ER bomb kits and Small Diameter Bombs, as well as French-made Hammer bombs, for precision strikes from safer distances. The Equalizer could give Kyiv more control over its own supply of guided bombs as foreign military aid remains uncertain.

'A NEW KIND OF WAR': INSIDE UKRAINE'S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES

The Equalizer turns a conventional bomb into a precision weapon by adding wings and guidance systems. It is designed to be dropped from Ukraine’s MiG-29, Su-24 and Su-27 warplanes, allowing pilots to attack targets farther behind Russian lines while staying farther away from Russian air defenses.

Brave1 told The War Zone that the bomb could eventually be used by Ukraine’s donated F-16 and Mirage fighter jets, but it needs additional certification before that can happen.

Russia’s use of glide bombs has become one of the most punishing parts of the war for Ukrainian troops and towns near the front. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces dropped more than 8,300 guided aerial bombs in July — the highest monthly total of the war and an average of more than 267 bombs a day.

Russia’s wider air assault has also intensified in recent days. A Russian missile-and-drone barrage on Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight killed at least 16 people and wounded about 40, Ukrainian officials said Thursday. The attack damaged homes, a school and a children’s hospital.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES BALLISTIC MISSILE ATTACK ON KYIV HOURS AFTER ZELENSKYY WARNS OF MAJOR STRIKE

The Equalizer does not make Ukraine fully independent from foreign supply chains. Brave1 said the bomb’s wings and flight-control software were made in Ukraine, but its chips and microcircuits come from abroad. The group said about 90% of the weapon’s parts come from Ukraine, Europe and the U.S.

The weapons have helped Russia pound Ukrainian defensive positions and communities near the fighting.

Ukraine has continued to press the U.S. and European allies for more air-defense weapons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that the U.S. had agreed to send Patriot interceptor missiles each month, but he warned that the volumes were not enough to meet Ukraine’s needs.

RUSSIA EXPOSES NATO WEAPONS GAP AS TOP COMMANDER WARNS ‘THE MATH IS NOT IN FAVOR OF THE WEST’

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It is not yet clear when the Equalizer will reach Ukrainian units in large numbers or whether it has been used in combat.

Fox News Digital has reached out to DG Industry and Brave1 for comment.

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A man believed to have been the longest-serving prisoner in U.S. history has died at the age of 101, having his execution scheduled and postponed eight times as he maintained his innocence despite a murder conviction in Connecticut.

Francis Clifford Smith died in his sleep in late June at 60 West, a secured Connecticut nursing facility that cares for older people in the justice system, according to the facility.

Smith, who was just months away from turning 102, was cremated without a funeral.

"Essentially, he died of old age," 60 West spokesman David Skoczulek told the BBC. "He had very limited family involvement around his passing but we assured it was appropriate, met his wishes and was dignified."

CALIFORNIA INMATE WHO SPENT 45 YEARS ON DEATH ROW FOR MURDERING PREGNANT WIFE DIES

Smith was 25 when he was first sentenced to death for the fatal shooting of Grover Hart, a 68-year-old night watchman at a Connecticut yacht club, during an attempted robbery on July 23, 1949. Smith was one of two men arrested in connection with the killing. The other man, George Lowden, took a plea deal and initially implicated Smith, although Lowden later said authorities had beaten him into making the statement and refused to testify against Smith at trial.

Over the next 76 years, Smith was scheduled to be executed eight different times, but he was spared on each occasion, according to the Boston Globe.

He continued to maintain his innocence up until his death, his friends told the BBC.

"I’m in here on no evidence at all," he told the Boston Globe in 2023.

Over the years, questions about the evidence against Smith emerged as a witness recanted, Lowden repudiated his earlier statement implicating Smith and another man claimed responsibility for Hart's killing. Those developments contributed to repeated efforts to prevent Smith's execution and obtain a new trial.

"I'm not even sure he was present at the murder," Major Leo Carroll, one of the officers who had interrogated Smith after his arrest, testified to the Board of Pardons right before his eight planned execution, according to the Boston Globe.

A key witness later recanted her account linking Smith to the crime, while Lowden repudiated his earlier statement implicating Smith. Another man serving time in Alabama later claimed that he, rather than Smith, had been involved in Hart's killing.

Smith nevertheless never received a new trial. A judge who reviewed the other man's confession rejected it as not credible, and Smith's murder conviction remained intact.

Smith’s death sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1954.

He served 76 years behind bars, except for three short stints of freedom, including 12 days on the run after he escaped in 1967.

SOUTH CAROLINA INMATE WHO BELIEVES HE IS IMMORTAL CANNOT BE EXECUTED DUE TO MENTAL ILLNESS, JUDGE RULES

Then, in 1975, he was granted parole and remained free for about 10 months before he was arrested on larceny and weapons charges and returned to prison for violating parole. The Boston Globe reported that he was not ultimately convicted of those charges.

Records indicate Smith declined or refused to participate in several later parole efforts, although he later disputed that characterization and said he could not remember. But in 2020, he agreed to go on supervised parole to the nursing facility where he recently died.

He reportedly had dementia at the end of his life. Connecticut’s Department of Correction has not confirmed this diagnosis but said Smith was struggling with issues associated with old age.

"He was 101 and a half," Andrius Banevicius, the public information officer for Connecticut’s Department of Correction, told the BBC. "He did pretty well as far as longevity is concerned."

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A man dressed up as the "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader showed up at a San Diego City Council meeting to mockingly defend Flock police surveillance cameras, telling council members "this is what the emperor needs."

He approached the podium at the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee meeting on Wednesday, complete with Darth Vader's trademark heavy breathing heard through the council chamber’s microphone.

The committee members even addressed the man as ‘Darth Vader’ as he appeared to mock the Flock-linked surveillance system, suggesting the surveillance tool could be an asset to the dark side.

"This is what the emperor needs. This technology will help us find the rebel scum and the hidden base on Hoth," the man said, referring to the frozen planet from "The Empire Strikes Back."

FLOCK SURVEILLANCE SPREADS ACROSS THE SOUTH AS RED-STATE LAWMAKERS SEEK TO AX '1984'-STYLE TRACKING TOOLS

He said the technology "will help us find Luke Skywalker as he traverses the universe in his X-Wing. This technology is a necessary, necessary force."

"The Emperor is a fan of Flock, and we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum as they move from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium, because we all know that the Flock cameras are not only following the license plate readers, they are following children," he said.

He added that he needs the cameras "so I can stalk my ex-girlfriend."

Addressing City Council member Jennifer Campbell, the man said she needs to work on her Jedi mind tricks.

"And how will the people trust this City Council when this City Council continues to vote for surveillance technology that imprisons them? Ms. Campbell, you must work on your Jedi mind tricks," he said before waving his hand to the audience.

In December 2025, the San Diego Police Department signed a one-year pilot agreement for Flock Nova, a separate investigative platform designed to integrate data from various sources. The department later said it was not using the platform and did not plan to integrate its license plate reader data into it. SDPD later told Axios it was not using the platform and did not plan to integrate its license plate reader data into it.

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Local activists and some city officials have called for alternatives as public criticism of the cameras continues to mount in communities across the country, Axios reported.

SDPD uses Flock automated license plate recognition cameras at approximately 500 locations citywide, according to the department’s 2025 annual surveillance report. A crowdsourced map maintained by the anti-surveillance project DeFlock lists additional cameras in the area, though its entries are not an official city inventory.

San Diego police say the technology is used for official law enforcement purposes, including locating vehicles connected to investigations. The department says its ALPR database can only be accessed by authorized SDPD personnel and that data is retained for up to 30 days and automatically deleted unless it is preserved as evidence in an active investigation.

Flock offers automated license plate readers, video cameras and audio-detection products. Its license plate readers capture plate numbers along with vehicle characteristics such as make, model and color, and some Flock systems can identify distinguishing features such as bumper stickers or aftermarket modifications.

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The last message in your family group chat may have seemed completely harmless. It could have been a beach photo, a flight arrival time, a dentist appointment or an update about Dad's cardiologist.

These are the everyday details that keep families connected. They can also give scammers the information they need to impersonate someone you love.

A criminal may already know your relatives' names, phone numbers and addresses before making contact. Your family group chat can supply the current details that make the scam believable.

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YOUR SENIOR PARENTS ARE EASIER TO IMPERSONATE THAN YOU ARE

Scammers do not always need to hack an account. Instead, they may need only a few minutes and access to a data broker site. Sites such as Spokeo, Whitepages and BeenVerified may reveal your name, address history and phone number. They may also list your relatives, including your spouse, adult children, grandchildren and siblings. That information gives a scammer the outline of your family. Meanwhile, your family group chat can fill in the missing details.

For example, you might post that you just returned from Florida. Your daughter may mention that your grandson is backpacking through Europe. You might also share Dad's next doctor's appointment or the date the grandkids start at a new school. Those updates may feel private. However, they can become exposed if someone shares them elsewhere, posts similar details on social media or loses control of an account.

The FBI has explained how criminals use this information in grandparent scams. A scammer may learn that a grandson is a photographer who often travels to Mexico. Then the caller claims to be stranded there after losing his passport and camera equipment. The story sounds believable because it includes real details. The FTC warns that scammers "may know your name, where you live, and other information they could have found on social media." In other words, criminals can combine public records with personal updates to create a convincing lie.

In 2025, Americans age 60 and older reported $7.7 billion in losses to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, with more than 201,000 complaints filed. Here is the number that should stop you. A data removal service analysis of FBI data found that 72% of elder fraud cases in 2024 were enabled by victims' personal data being available online. Those cases accounted for $4.2 billion in losses, or 86% of the total amount stolen.

An 86-year-old woman named Joyce received a call about her real grandson, Grant. The caller reportedly knew he wore glasses, worked as a teacher and was in his mid-20s. Her daughter-in-law later recalled, "There were comments like, 'He's such a nice young man. I love the glasses he wears.'"

Gary Schildhorn told the U.S. Senate Aging Committee about receiving a call from what sounded exactly like his son's voice. The caller asked for nearly $9,000 in bail money. "There was no doubt in my mind that it was his voice on the phone," he said. It was an AI-generated voice clone.

Security researchers say criminals may need only a short audio clip to reproduce someone's voice. That is the type of clip families share in group chats every day. In August 2025, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts charged 13 people in a ring accused of stealing more than $5 million from over 400 victims across five states. The victims' average age was 84. The U.S. Attorney's summary was blunt: "Their goal was to trick our parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends into handing over their life savings under false pretenses, and they succeeded."

Scammers do not always rely on information posted outside the group. Sometimes they take over the chat itself. One common WhatsApp takeover trick starts with a message claiming that a verification code was sent to you by mistake. The sender asks you to forward it. That code is actually your registration code. Forwarding it may allow someone to register your number on another phone. The criminal could then lock you out, create a new PIN and start messaging your family while pretending to be you.

Facebook Messenger accounts can also be cloned or hijacked. With iMessage scams, criminals may try to persuade you to respond to a disabled scam link so that the link becomes active again. SIM swapping presents another threat. A criminal who convinces your carrier to transfer your phone number to a different device may gain access without asking you to forward a code. Once that happens, the scammer no longer needs to guess your relatives' names. The criminal may be inside the group chat using them.

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Good. You should not. Nobody is asking you to leave the family group chat. Disappearing from it would take away one of the best parts of getting older: staying close to your family every day. This isn’t about talking less. It is about making a few five-minute security changes that can close the doors scammers use while preserving the connection your family values.

A few changes can strengthen your account security and help your family respond safely when a suspicious message appears.

Two-step verification adds another layer of protection to your accounts. Therefore, turn it on for every messaging, social media and email account that supports it.

WhatsApp: Open Settings > Account > Two-step verification.

Facebook: Open Accounts Center > Password and security > Two-factor authentication.

Apple Account: Open Settings > [your name] > Sign-In & Security > Two-Factor Authentication.

This extra security step can help block an account takeover, even if a scammer steals your password or tries to register your account on another device.

Create a family rule that nobody forwards a verification code received by text, email or an authentication app. A legitimate platform will not ask you to send your private login code to another person. A real family member should not need it either. Even when the request appears to come from your child or grandchild, call that person using a phone number you already have before taking action.

Choose a word, phrase or question that only your real family knows. Before anyone sends money or responds to an emergency request, ask for the codeword. Apply the rule every time, even when the person's voice sounds convincing. Do not place the codeword in the same group chat you are trying to protect. Share it by phone or in person.

YOUR FAMILY COULD BE ONE PHONE CALL FROM A BANK SCAM

Post beach photos after you return home rather than while you are still traveling. Real-time travel posts may reveal that your home is empty. They can also give scammers a believable opening line about where you are, where you have been or when you are expected to return. You can still share every great photo. A short delay makes the information less useful to someone watching your activity.

On WhatsApp, review who can see your profile photo, last seen status and About information. Consider limiting those details to your contacts. You can also restrict who is allowed to add you to groups. For conversations containing addresses, appointments or routines, consider enabling Advanced Chat Privacy when it is available. Review similar privacy settings on Facebook, Instagram and any other service your family uses.

Treat an account as untrusted when a family member suddenly asks you to forward a code, send money, buy gift cards or keep an emergency secret. Getting logged out unexpectedly can also indicate that someone is attempting to take over your account. Stop responding in the chat and call the family member directly using a phone number you already had. Do not call a new number provided in the suspicious message.

Use a password managerto create and store a different strong password for every messaging, email and social media account. Reusing the same password gives criminals more opportunities. If one service suffers a breach, the stolen password may be tested against your other accounts. Apassword manager also reduces the temptation to choose short passwords based on birthdays, pets or family names that a scammer could discover online.

There is one problem these security settings cannot solve: the data broker profile that may have made the scam believable in the first place.

Search for your name on sites such as Spokeo or Whitepages. You may find your address, phone number and relatives listed by name. That is the information a scammer can see before making contact.

Meanwhile, your group chat supplies the current details that make the eventual call or message convincing. The data broker profile may have helped identify your family as a possible target.

You can request removal from data broker sites yourself. However, the process can take time, and your information may reappear later.

For ongoing help, consider using a reputable data removal service. These services send removal requests to data brokers on your behalf and continue checking whether your personal information returns.

No service can remove every trace of your data from the internet. Still, reducing the number of sites that display your address, phone number and family connections can make it harder for scammers to build a convincing profile around you.

Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com

The family group chat may feel like the safest room in your digital life, but the information shared there can become valuable to criminals. Data brokers may already have your relatives mapped out by name, while travel plans, appointments and everyday updates give scammers the current details they need to create a convincing story. Real families have lost thousands of dollars to callers who appeared to know everything about them. Messaging accounts can also be hijacked through stolen verification codes, weak passwords, phishing attempts or SIM-swapping attacks. You do not need to leave the family group chat. Turn on two-step verification, use unique passwords stored in a password manager, create a family codeword and wait until you return home before sharing travel updates. Those precautions can protect your accounts, but they cannot remove information that is already sitting on data broker sites. Reducing that exposure requires regularly checking what is public and requesting that your information be removed. Stay close to your family. Just make it harder for someone else to use that closeness against you.

Has a scammer ever contacted you or a relative using real names, travel details or other personal information that made the story feel convincing? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com

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Two travelers arriving from London allegedly packed nearly 850 pounds of khat into 12 suitcases before the massive haul was uncovered by customs officers at a Maryland airport.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the two U.S. citizens from New York arrived at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Aug. 13 and were referred for secondary inspection.

During a subsequent baggage examination, officers discovered what appeared to be a large quantity of tea leaves, which later tested positive for khat, or Catha edulis, according to CBP.

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Authorities said each traveler had six soft-sided suitcases filled with khat. The seized material weighed approximately 847 pounds and had an estimated street value of about $100,000.

The men were released pending further investigation, CBP said.

Khat, also known as Abyssinian tea and African salad, is typically grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and is chewed for its amphetamine-like effects, according to CBP. Dried khat leaves can also be boiled to make a stimulant tea.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), khat contains two central nervous system stimulants — cathinone, a Schedule I controlled substance, and cathine, a Schedule IV controlled substance.

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Symptoms of khat toxicity can include delusions, loss of appetite, difficulty breathing and increased blood pressure and heart rate, according to the DEA.

The World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse in 1980.

The discovery came just days after CBP officers seized another 412 pounds of khat from unclaimed traveler baggage at the same airport.

In that case, CBP said officers "spooked" a suspected smuggler, who fled the inspection station and left the khat behind.

CBP SEIZES MASSIVE METH HAUL WORTH MILLIONS STASHED IN SECRET TILE SHIPMENT

"Customs and Border Protection officers have observed substantial quantities of khat being smuggled in commercial shipments, but smuggling loads of this volume inside traveler baggage is a bit unusual, and not any more successful," CBP's Baltimore Area Port Director Adam Rottman said in a statement.

"Khat is illegal and poses severe health risks to users," Rottman continued. "CBP will continue to seize khat and other dangerous drugs when we encounter it and we will work with our law enforcement partners to hold smugglers accountable."

CBP officers seized roughly 46,000 pounds of khat last fiscal year and nearly 20,000 pounds during the current fiscal year so far, according to the agency.

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