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 Salmanโs 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 organizationโs 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 husbandโs cellphone after it was recovered from the battlefield. Also on her husbandโs device were photos depicting Salman with an ISIS flag in the background and a video that shows her brandishing an AK-47 rifle.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐-๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ A Brooklyn federal jury didnโt buy it. Halima Salman, 27, was convicted Tuesday of receiving military training from the Islamic State in Syria โ weapons instruction, a loyalty pledge, and a marriage to one of the terror groupโs fighters that prosecutors say was anything but reluctant. The governmentโs key exhibit was pulled off her own husbandโs phone: photos of Salman standing in front of an ISIS flag holding an AK-47, plus a document showing sheโd ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉโ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ . Jurors also heard she sent her husband a song praising Osama bin Laden โ not exactly the record of a hostage. Salmanโs 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 ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ and that bin Laden tribute, and the jury chose the receipts over the sympathy story. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg didnโt soften the verdict: โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บโ๐ด ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ.โ Salman faces up to ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง when sheโs sentenced Feb. 2. ๐๐ง ๐๐-๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐. Source: Washington Examiner https://t.co/YJ8OBxJCPF https://t.co/YJ8OBxJCPF
โ M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) October 28, 2026
Conversely, Salmanโs 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 prosecutionโs case, challenging the certificateโs 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.