She sought to recruit men and women, to raise money and even agreed to carry out the murder of a Swedish resident, pledging “only death will stop me,” the indictment charged.
The Justice Department unsealed the indictment against LaRose just hours after Irish police arrested seven people accused of plotting to kill a controversial Swedish cartoonist. Arrested in October 2009, she spent more than a year networking with would-be attackers around the world.
With blond hair and green eyes, the 46-year-old LaRose allegedly said in one e-mail that she could go anywhere undetected, writing that it was “an honor & great pleasure to die or kill for” jihad.
Born in 1963, LaRose lived in Texas before moving to a community outside the northeast US city of Philadelphia. Divorced, LaRose had no known occupation, authorities said. But she now stands accused of recruiting women “who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad,” and of having stolen a US passport “and transferred or attempted to transfer it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.”
If convicted of the charges against her, LaRose could face life in prison and a one million dollar fine. The indictment claims she received two messages in March 2009 from an individual in a South Asian country instructing her to kill an unnamed Swedish resident. “Kill him... this is what i say to u,” the indictment quotes one message as saying. “Kill (the individual) in a way that the whole Kafir (non-believer) world get frightened,” the second said. “I will make this my goal till i achieve it or die trying,” LaRose allegedly responded. LaRose also was identified by the monikers “Fatima LaRose” and “JihadJane.”
At least three Swedish newspapers on Wednesday published a highly offensive cartoon against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) after an alleged plot to murder the artist who created it was uncovered in Ireland. Irish authorities on Tuesday detained four men and three women suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to kill Vilks. Irish police said Wednesday those arrested were two Algerians, two Libyans, a Palestinian, a Croatian and an American woman married to one of the Algerian suspects.
