Federal Jury Convicts Halima Salman of ISIS Weapons Training

A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted Halima Salman, a 27-year-old US citizen, on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, of knowingly receiving military training from the Islamic State group in Syria. Prosecutors argued that Salman voluntarily supported the designated terrorist organization, while her defense maintained that her father and extremist husband had trapped her in a conflict she struggled to escape.

The conviction exposes Salman to a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. According to court reporting by The Associated Press, her sentencing is scheduled for February 2, 2027, and her attorneys have asked the judge to overturn the verdict and acquit her on the grounds that the evidence was legally insufficient.

Prosecutors presented jurors with a video showing Salman holding an assault rifle, a photograph of her with the group's flag and text messages she had sent her husband. According to Fox News, authorities also recovered a document on her husband's cellphone that certified she had completed military-style training and had received authorization to carry a rifle.

US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr., who leads the Eastern District of New York office, said the verdict established legal accountability for Salman's alleged support of the organization.

"With today's verdict, Salman is held accountable for joining forces with a terrorist organization," Nocella said in a statement.

He also emphasized the government's commitment to prosecuting people who supported the group.

"ISIS ravaged Syria and caused havoc across the globe; our Office will continue to prosecute those who supported its murderous reign," Nocella said.

Assistant US Attorney Amanda Shami argued during closing statements that the evidence demonstrated Salman's participation in the group's military activities.

"The evidence shows that the defendant received military training from a violent, brutal, terrorist organization - an organization that is responsible for attacks across the world," Shami told the jury.

Salman's defense presented a different account of her time in Syria, portraying her as a teenager whose father took her out of the United States under misleading circumstances before arranging her marriage to an Islamic State fighter. Born in Brooklyn, Salman testified that she was 17 in 2017 when she believed her family was traveling to Turkey to visit relatives. Instead, their vehicle crossed into Syria, where armed men surrounded them.

Salman described the difficulty of escaping her circumstances and disputed the suggestion that her marriage was voluntary.

"You try to leave, it is death," Salman testified.

She also told the court that she had resisted her family's marriage arrangements and repeatedly attempted to end the relationship.

"I do blame my father for a lot of things that happened," Salman testified.

According to CBS News, Salman spent three months in housing operated by the Islamic State group before reuniting with her family. She later married a German-Afghan fighter identified in court documents as Abu Ali. She testified that her husband demanded domestic labor from her and his mother, while prosecutors cited affectionate messages as evidence that challenged her description of the marriage.

Salman recalled her husband's words on their first day of marriage.

"Get up, stupid wife, it's time for you to be a wife," Salman said her husband told her.

Prosecutors also questioned her account of limited involvement with the group, citing a religious song about Osama bin Laden that she had sent to her husband. Salman maintained that the video showing her with a rifle reflected compliance with her husband's request rather than voluntary military participation.

She described the final year of the marriage as marked by repeated bombings that sometimes forced the couple to sleep outdoors.

"dead bodies everywhere," Salman recalled seeing during the conflict.

The couple eventually fled with other refugees in a truck, and Salman testified that she told her husband they would separate. She said she never saw him again. Anti-Islamic State forces detained her in Baghouz, Syria, in 2019, and US authorities arrested her after she returned to New York in 2024.

The jury reached its verdict after several days of deliberations and repeated indications that members were struggling to agree unanimously. Salman, her mother and members of the defense team cried in court after the decision was announced. Her attorneys subsequently sought acquittal, while the scheduled February sentencing remains the next major proceeding in the case.

The Islamic State seized extensive territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014 before losing its territorial control in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019. According to CBS News, the Program on Extremism has identified 83 American adults who traveled to Syria or Iraq since 2011 and affiliated with jihadist groups.