Federal Jury Convicts American 'ISIS Bride' for Joining Terrorist Group

A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Halima Salman on Tuesday for participating in training with the Islamic State (ISIS), a brutal terrorist group.

Salman is a 27-year-old U.S. citizen and former Brooklyn resident. Her trial was the first involving an American woman for joining the terrorist group.

Prosecutors showed during trial that after Salman’s parents took her and her eight siblings to ISIS-controlled territory in 2016, she married an ISIS fighter at 18. She voluntarily sought training with the organization’s female battalion and was authorized to carry a rifle. She even received a document certifying that she had completed training.

In late 2016 or early 2017, Salman was 18 years old and married to an ISIS fighter in Syria, where she voluntarily sought military-type training and received authorization to carry ammunition and an assault rifle from ISIS. Salman received a document certifying that she successfully completed that training, a copy of which was found on her husband’s cellphone after it was recovered from the battlefield. Also on her husband’s device were photos depicting Salman with an ISIS flag in the background and a video that shows her brandishing an AK-47 rifle.

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐊-𝟒𝟕 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃—𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝟏𝟎 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 A Brooklyn federal jury didn’t buy it. Halima Salman, 27, was convicted Tuesday of receiving military training from the Islamic State in Syria — weapons instruction, a loyalty pledge, and a marriage to one of the terror group’s fighters that prosecutors say was anything but reluctant. The government’s key exhibit was pulled off her own husband’s phone: photos of Salman standing in front of an ISIS flag holding an AK-47, plus a document showing she’d 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. Jurors also heard she sent her husband a song praising Osama bin Laden — not exactly the record of a hostage. Salman’s defense argued she was married off at 18 by her father and trapped in a war zone with an abusive husband, her loyalty to the group entirely faked to survive. Prosecutors answered with 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 and that bin Laden tribute, and the jury chose the receipts over the sympathy story. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg didn’t soften the verdict: “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥.” Salman faces up to 𝟏𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 when she’s sentenced Feb. 2. 𝐀𝐧 𝐀𝐊-𝟒𝟕 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞. Source: Washington Examiner https://t.co/YJ8OBxJCPF https://t.co/YJ8OBxJCPF

— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) October 28, 2026

Conversely, Salman’s defense argued she was a victim, not a willing participant. She testified that her father had tricked her family into crossing into ISIS-controlled territory from Turkey and forced her to marry at 18. She said she repeatedly tried to divorce her husband, but to no avail.

Her lawyers attacked the prosecution’s case, challenging the certificate’s authenticity and pointing out that the state had not produced a single witness who saw Salman training. The attorneys have asked Judge Natasha C. Merle to set aside the verdict and acquit their client on the grounds that the evidence was legally insufficient.

Salman faces up to 10 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2027.

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