Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP / Getty Images
A federal jury in New York has convicted Halina Salman, a 27-year-old woman from Brooklyn, for receiving military training from ISIS while living in Syria. According to Boston Herald, the trial took place in Brooklyn Federal Court, where Salman testified that she was forced to marry an ISIS fighter as a teenager.
Prosecutors argued that Salman willingly participated in ISIS activities and received AK-47 training from the Nusaybah Khatiba, an all-female brigade. They presented evidence including a video of Salman holding an assault rifle and a photo with an ISIS flag in the background, as reported by KATV.
Salman's defense argued that she was coerced into the situation by her father, who moved the family to Syria when she was 17. Her lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, described the case as a "grave miscarriage of justice," stating that there was no direct evidence of Salman's training. The defense claimed that Salman was a victim of circumstance, trapped in Syria's civil war and forced into marriage, according to ABC27.
Salman, who also goes by the name Umm Khattab al-Muhajir, faces up to ten years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been announced.