A 19-year-old from the Denver, Colorado, area was arrested and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization — ISIS.
PASTOR: "It's still puzzling. How does a young person really get caught like that?" (Via KMGH)
The pastor of an Arvada, Colorado, church says staff members noticed the teen in 2013 suspiciously taking notes on the layout of the church campus. They called police, who say 19-year-old Shannon Maureen Conley was planning to work with ISIS. (Via KMGH)
That's the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the group of extremist rebels working to take down the Iraqi government. (Via RT)
The FBI got involved in the investigation and interviewed Conley. KMGH got a look at the affidavit, which reads in part:
"Conley stated she wanted to wage Jihad and would like to go overseas to fight. ... According to Conley, it is acceptable to attack westerners when engaged in 'defensive Jihad.'"
But love may have been a reason Conley, who is not even 20, may have accepted the potential consequences of attempting to join ISIS.
At the time of her arrest, Conley, a certified nurse's aide, was headed to Turkey's border with Syria to eventually meet her suitor, a 32-year-old Tunisian man. FBI agents say she was going to marry him and and support his cause by serving as an ISIS camp nurse.
Local Denver media are heavily covering the story but don't have many details beyond what we can see from those recently unsealed documents. (Via KCNC)
Interestingly, throughout their investigation FBI agents say they tried to get Conley to change her plans, asking her if she'd consider doing humanitarian work instead. But she seemed determined to move forward, so FBI agents arrested her at Denver International Airport as she was headed to Turkey.
Her parents haven't said much publicly, but her mother did tell CNN, "It's a difficult time for us."
The arrest happened back in April, but court documents were only recently unsealed. Conley is currently in the custody of U.S. Marshals and faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
