Teenage girl from Denver to plead guilty in IS case
A 19-year-old girl from a Denver suburb is expected to plead guilty to charges of trying to aid the terrorist organization called the Islamic State.
Shannon Conley was arrested at Denver International Airport on April 8 while she was trying to board a flight to take her to Syria and join the jihad.
Conley was prosecuted for her activities between Sep. 2013 and Apr. 2014, which included "providing material support and resources, including personnel and expert advice, to a foreign terrorist organization," according to a federal criminal complaint, reported by the local news channel ABC 7 News.
The teenager came under the authorities scrutiny when a pastor at Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada reported a suspicious individual taking notes on the church premises. Conley was planning on going to Syria and marrying a Tunisian man whom she met on the internet, against her parents' will. She said if she can't fight with the Islamic state, she would like to use her nursing training to help the terrorist organization. Described as "a shy, quiet suburban girl" by the people who knew her, Conley converted to Islam and started wearing a hijab. If she is convicted, she could face five years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Last month, another American from Minnesota who had joined IS and was recently killed in Syria. His high school friend had died fighting for the Islamist terrorist group al Shabaab in Somalia, according to The Guardian. IS is attracting many young people from Europe, Canada, the U.S. and Australia to go fight for the group. Denver University International Studies professor Jonathan Adelman told ABC 7 in an interview with hat young adults are vulnerable to the allure of extremism. He said young people are more likely to think that the possibility of being in a battle is heroic, romantic and exciting.
