Arizona Woman Arrested After Attempting To Support al-Qaida
An Arizona woman has been arrested for allegedly providing material support to al-Qaida.
Officials from the Department of Justice and the FBI said Jill Marie Jones had been communicating with two undercover FBI employees, "one of whom she believed was a member of al-Qaida."
Jones allegedly gave the undercover agent a $500 prepaid gift card that she believed would be used to purchase scopes and rifles that al-Qaida would then use to kill American soldiers.
A criminal complaint against Jones says she also bought plane tickets and was planning to travel overseas to join al-Qaida in the Middle East.
The FBI said it arrested Jones at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix on Wednesday after she checked into a flight bound for Turkey.
The operatives she was corresponding with were actually undercover FBI agents, as U.S. Attorney Michael Bailey explained.
"A $500 visa gift card she believed she was sending to support international terrorism," Bailey said. "According to the allegations in the complaint, (she was) very aware the funds would be used to buy firearms and other weapons that would in turn be used to kill Americans," Bailey said.
