Two Women Arrested for Plotting ISIS-Inspired Attack in New York City

Two New York City women were arrested today and charged with plotting an ISIS-inspired attack involving a homemade bomb.

According to CBS, the two women, 28-year-old Noelle Velentzas and 31-year-old Asia Siddiqui, were roommates in Queens attempting to make an improvised explosive device when they were arrested by undercover investigators. Both women are U.S. citizens. (Sources told WABC that Siddiqui “is currently in possession of multiple propane gas tanks, as well as instructions for how to transform propane tanks into explosive devices.”)

While investigators believe the women looked at ISIS propaganda online, it’s currently unclear as to whether they had any contact with the Islamic State itself.

John Miller, the head of the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism operation, said that the women were caught in the early stages of the plot and that “the public was never in danger.”

This is the latest domestic arrest of American-based ISIS sympathizers in recent weeks: in March, a National Guardsman and his cousin were arrested for plotting an attack on a military facility, and a U.S. Air Force veteran was arrested for trying to join ISIS while traveling through Egypt.

And earlier last month, three Brooklyn men were arrested for attempting to join ISIS, caught at the airport before flying to Turkey.

[CBS]
[Image via screenshot]

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