NEW YORK (Sputnik) — Two female residents of New York City were arrested on Thursday for knowingly and willfully conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction after been radicalized by the Islamic State, according to the criminal complaint by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Asia Siddiqui possessed “multiple propane tanks, as well as instructions for how to transform propane tanks into explosive devices,” according to the complaint unsealed on Thursday.
Siddiqui, 31, was arrested along with her former roommate and alleged co-conspirator Noelle Velentzas, 28, with whom she had plotted to attack the United States since 2013, according to the complaint.
“As alleged, the defendants in this case carefully studied how to construct an explosive device to launch an attack on the homeland,” US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in the statement.
New York ISIS Bomb: Noelle Velentzas, Asia Siddiqui Arrested For Allegedly Plotting… http://t.co/aC7LipHwvU #news pic.twitter.com/LP5FtOe5Xb
— MyInforms USA (@Myinforms_EN) 2 апреля 2015
The complaint alleges that Siddiqui and Velentzas, who are both US citizens, were inspired to build a bomb after watching several Islamic State promotional and instructional videos such as, “How to Spot Undercover Police,” and “How to Use a Spy Camera and Bug Detector Sweeper.”
“Killing a police officer is easier than buying food, because sometimes one has to wait in line to buy food,” Velentzas told an undercover informant, according to the complaint.
Lynch said the authorities remain firm in the resolve to hold accountable anyone who would seek to terrorize the American people, “whether by traveling abroad to commit attacks overseas or by plotting here at home.”
Velentzas and Siddiqui were charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, which carries up to a life sentence.
