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Colleen R. LaRose, who also used the names JihadJane and Fatima LaRose (born 1963 or 1964 (age 60–61) in Michigan), is a woman from Pennsburg in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia suburbs. Her U.S. federal indictment was unsealed on March 9, 2010, charging her with actively trying to recruit Islamic terrorists, including at least one American, to murder Swedish artist Lars Vilks.

Background

LaRose lived in several Texas towns, including San Angelo and Corpus Christi, before moving to the Philadelphia area in 2004. She lived there with her boyfriend, Kurt Gorman, whom she had met in Ennis, Texas, several years prior.

What appears to be her Myspace profile shows a number of pictures of bloodshed and violence in the Middle East, with messages such as, “Palestine We Are With You” and “Sympathize With Gaza.” The woman, apparently LaRose, is in several different pictures wearing a burka. In her profile she says she is a recent convert to Islam.

According to prosecutors, on August 23, 2009, LaRose flew to Europe "with the intent to live and train with jihadists, and to find and kill" Vilks. She was arrested on October 16, 2009, at Philadelphia International Airport but her imprisonment was kept secret until her indictment was unsealed. She had a court appearance on October 16, but didn't enter a plea.

Gorman, whose passport she stole for one of her co-conspirators, said she "never talked about international events, about Muslims, anything".

Indictment

Her indictment charged that she linked up with militants outside the U.S. through the internet, and plotted to carry out a murder. It said that in mid-2008, LaRose began posting her desire to help Muslims on YouTube and other internet sites. By early 2009, she was exchanging e-mail messages expressing her desire to become a martyr for an Islamist cause.

Kept under wraps in custody in Philadelphia until her indictment was unsealed to protect another ongoing investigation , she faces arraignment in mid-March 2010. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and $1 million fine.

Target: Swedish artist

In 2007, Vilks became embroiled in an international controversy after he made a drawing depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad's head atop the body of a dog, as a roundabout dog. The drawing played off a Swedish fad of the time of installing public art of canines in the middle of traffic circles. "It's not a nasty attack on the prophet," he said. "It's more of a satire, but people have no sense of humor."

The Swedish regional newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published the drawing on August 18, 2007, to illustrate an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of religion. It spurred a controversy that led to him receiving several death threats, including one by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, which offered up to $150,000 for his assassination, and subsequently to him living under police protection. In response, Vilks told reporters: "I suppose this makes my art project a bit more serious. It's also good to know how much one is worth."

At least three Swedish newspapers republished the drawing on March 10, 2010, including the Stockholm paper Dagens Nyheter, which said in an editorial: "Vilks doesn't stand alone in this conflict. A threat against him is, in the long term, also a threat against all Swedes."

Ireland arrests

The same day as the unsealing of LaRose's indictment, seven people were arrested in Ireland over an alleged plot to assassinate Vilks. Two police officers close to the investigation said those arrested were foreign-born Irish residents, mostly from Yemen and Morocco. The Irish police force (Garda Síochána) said that throughout the investigation they had been "working closely with law enforcement agencies in the United States and in a number of European countries".

Two U.S. officials told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the charges against LaRose were related to that investigation. She had online discussions with at least one of the suspects apprehended in Ireland regarding her plans, according to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Women/terrorism charges

Only a few women other than LaRose have been charged with terrorism-related offenses in the U.S., according to Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd. LaRose is the only American woman in recent years to have been charged in the U.S. with terrorist violations and attempting to foment a terror conspiracy to kill someone overseas.

In February 2010,a another woman -- Aafia Siddiqui, a Muslim Pakistani alleged al-Qaeda member who lived in Houston and Boston and studied at MIT and Brandeis -- was convicted in New York City in a terrorism-related case of attempting to kill U.S. military and law enforcement officials.

Some terrorism experts pointed to LaRose's apparent mental instability, arguing she was an anomaly and not representative of a trend towards women jihadists.

References

1. Emily Friedman and Jason Ryan (March 9, 2010). "American Colleen LaRose Called Herself Jihad Jane". ABC News. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. ^ Gorenstein, Nathan. "Prosecutors: "JihadJane" ideal for terror attack". {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
3. ^ "Woman with San Angelo ties arrested in terrorist plot; Accused is said to have wanted to help suffering Muslims". San Angelo Standard Times. March 9, 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
4. ^ Dale, MaryClaire (March 10, 2010). "'Jihad Jane' indictment shows terror's evolution". Associate Press. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
5. ^ Savage, Charles (March 9, 2010). "Pennsylvania Woman Tied to Plot on Cartoonist". New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
6. The Telegraph: Blond haired Jihad Jane plotted terror attacks
7. Yahoo News: Boyfriend: 'Jihad Jane' wasn't religious
8. "Jihad Jane, American who lived on Main Street", CNN, March 10, 2010, accessed March 10, 2010
9. Loeb, Pat, "Montco Woman Charged as Jihadist", KYW Newsradio 1060, March 10, 2010, accessed March 10, 2010
10. Brink, Bosse (July 21, 2007). "Teckningar på Muhammed togs bort" (in Swedish). Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved August 27, 2007.
11. Gorenstein, Nathan, and Shiffman, John, "Montco woman accused of helping terrorists", The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 9, 2010, accessed March 10, 2010
12. Ströman, Lars (August 18, 2007). "Rätten att förlöjliga en religion" (in Swedish). Nerikes Allehanda. Retrieved March 10, 2010. English translation
13. Scherlund, Erik (August 31, 2007). "Lars Vilks hotad till livet" (in Swedish). TV4Nyheterna. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
14. "Vilks to get police protection". Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå/The Local. September 16, 2007. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
15. "Bounty set over Prophet cartoon". BBC News. September 15, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
16. Jonsson, Patrik, "'Jihad Jane' alleged target Lars Vilks: 'I have an ax here'", the Christian Science Monitor, March 10, 2010, accessed March 10, 2010
17. Thompson, Paul, "Meet 'Jihad Jane': The blonde American housewife accused in Islamic plot to kill Swedish cartoonist", The Daily Mail, March 10, 2010, accessed March 10, 2010
18. ^ Pogatchnik, Shawn (March 9, 2010). "Irish arrest 7 over threat to kill Swedish artist". The Buffalo News/Associated Press. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
19. Williams, Pete (March 9, 2010). "Pa. woman accused of recruiting jihadists". MSNBC / Associated Press. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
20. Serrano, Richard A., 'JihadJane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S.," Los Angeles Times, March 10, 2010, accessed March 10, 2010
21. "Pennsylvania Woman Charged in Plot to Recruit Jihadists", The Wall Street Journal, March 10, 2010, accessed March 10, 2010

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