Jihad Jane, Colleen LaRose, Recruited Terrorists And Plotted Murder, Prosecutors Say

PHILADELPHIA (AP)-- A suburban Philadelphia woman "desperate to do something" to help suffering Muslims has been charged with using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas, even agreeing to move to Europe to try to kill someone, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Authorities said the case shows how terror groups are looking to recruit Americans to carry out their goals.

A federal indictment charges that Colleen R. LaRose, who called herself JihadJane online, agreed to kill a Swedish citizen on orders from the unnamed terrorists and traveled to Europe to carry out the killing. It doesn't say whether the Swede was killed, but LaRose was not charged with murder.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman wouldn't confirm the case is related to a group of people arrested in Ireland earlier Tuesday on suspicion of plotting against a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

But a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said LaRose had targeted the Swedish cartoonist and had online discussions about her plans with at least one of the suspects apprehended in Ireland. The official wasn't authorized to discuss details of the investigation.

The official also said LaRose, who has blond hair and blue eyes, indicated in her online conversations that she believed her appearance would help her move freely in Sweden to carry out the attack.

LaRose is a convert to Islam who actively recruited others, including at least one unidentified American, and her online messages expressed impatience to take action, the official said.

U.S. Attorney Michael Levy said the indictment doesn't link LaRose, a U.S. citizen who moved to Europe in August 2009, to any organized terror groups.

LaRose, 46, lived in Montgomery County, Pa., before moving to Europe, authorities said. She called herself JihadJane in a YouTube video in which she said she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" ease the suffering of Muslims, the indictment said. According to the 11-page document, she agreed to obtain residency in a European country and marry one of the terrorists to enable him to live there.

"Today's indictment, which alleges that a woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists, underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security.

LaRose also agreed to provide her co-conspirators in Asia and Europe financial and passport help, the indictment charged.

LaRose has been in federal custody since her Oct. 15 arrest in Philadelphia, authorities said. She had an initial court appearance the next day but didn't enter a plea.

Her federal public defender Mark T. Wilson declined to comment Tuesday.

___

Associated Press Writer Devlin Barrett contributed to this report from Washington.

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Comments

[littlemurraysparkles]

06:51 PM on 03/12/2010

there are a lot of people assuming jihad jane is a registered democrat..­..
it really shouldn't matter-how­ever~
she is a registered republican
colleen larose
montgomery co, pa
d.o.b. 6/5/1963
http://www­.pavoterse­rvices.sta­te.pa.us/P­ages/Voter­Registrati­onStatus.a­spx

[smurrayesq]

10:44 PM on 03/11/2010

Before the advent of the internet and social media, people who had ideas or beliefs that did not fit the norm in their community, generally could not find like-minde­d people. People with unusual beliefs might be considered as odd, even mentally ill, isolating them from their family and neighbors. The internet lets everyone communicat­e and create online communitie­s. People who express extreme views, or even paranoid ideas, can find a online community to support them and reinforce their beliefs. They go from a world where they are isolated, to an online community where everyone thinks similar thoughts or shares similar beliefs. Odd, paranoid ideas or conspiracy theories, are reinforced by others. It is easy to prey upon people who feel disconnect­ed from their home community and entice them into doing things that they might not otherwise do. Someone who is ostracized in their community can become accepted and find encouragem­ent in an online community.

How many isolated people are there in any community? How are they treated by family and neighbors? The internet can offer a supportive community to validate any idea and connect anyone to people with similar beliefs. Mental health services have been cut back, everyone is too busy to connect with neighbors and it is easy to slip into isolation. The internet creates a powerful global community, and connection is just a Google or Yahoo search away.

[tssent]

06:51 PM on 03/11/2010

All I know is that I don't want her prosecuted in anything but a
military court coz I don't want her in jail with our nice criminals
(the rapists and serial killers and like that).

Please send her to Gitmo.

[FreedomFighter2012]

01:43 PM on 03/11/2010

Does that mean we're going to have to start profiling all blondes?

[marleygreiner]

02:45 AM on 03/11/2010

This smells to high heaven. Does an6ybody actually believe this fabricatio­n?

[silverhawk57]

06:46 PM on 03/10/2010

l don't understand why everyone thinks this woman is crazy.She was just trying to do what muslims believe is right, which is to kill anyone who makes fun of the false prophet Muhammed.T­he death penalty is also mandated for any muslim who tries to leave Islam.Lars Vilks drew a cartoon with the head of Muhammed and the body of a dog, but I don't think that is very nice to our canine friends.I don't know of any dogs that are murderers or pedophiles­.

[shahada2009]

04:14 AM on 03/16/2010

The apostate person is one matter but the targeting and killing of innocent human beings is not the sunnah! These issues of the Muslimeen upset over cartons, and riot over it is wrong! There are far better ways to attack those that attack Islam! You have many anti Islamic postings and this is your right and to make a point, I disagree with your contention­s on Islam and the prophet sws. And yet, I fight you in debate and ^pointing out errors of your contention­s'. And those Muslims that want to kill or attempting to kill are wrong! This is not the sunnah of the Prophet! Lastly, you bring your literature from anti Islamic think tanks, haters of Islam, ignorance of the history and struggles of Islam and it's glories! You post informatio­n that is wrong and misleading­. This woman is not a Muslimah, nor do she espouses the right Islam! So, your inference here as in other postings is that this is what the Muslims do! You look to the Christian legacy and defamed leaders like Hitler! I could not nor would I blame all Christians for this man's hate! You should take a cue from that!

[mizan07]

06:29 PM on 03/10/2010

CNN pointed out her info here:
http://www­.spokeo.co­m/search?q­=Colleen%2­0LaRose#:17476787­17

[Klimb]

05:46 PM on 03/10/2010

A lesson for all that judgement should be about what ONE LOOKS LIKE but rather ONE'S CHARACTER.

[anitaj]

05:29 PM on 03/10/2010

How long was she stuck in that wind tunnel?

[El Indio]

03:16 PM on 03/10/2010

I know this not a funny story.....­BUT....doe­s anyone else think she looks like Beavis from Beavis and Butthead?

[TeraWatt60]

12:26 AM on 03/11/2010

actually she looks like a drag queen ...that jaw line is a little too square to be real

[Balzac]

03:09 PM on 03/10/2010

stank @ss

[nogimmicks]

02:55 PM on 03/10/2010

Her public name was JihadJane? Hmm.. sounds very dangerous and sophistica­ted (not). Actually the mental hospitals are full of jihadjanes and Napoleons.

What should be much more distressin­g is that the known violent rapists and murderers like the John Gardner are freed and given a free pass to rape and murder.

[Amryxx]

02:58 PM on 03/10/2010

You got a point there. "JihadJane­" reminds me of the GI Joe cartoon series - okay if you're 8-years old, ridiculous­ly corny otherwise. It ranks up there with HotSexyGur­l69 when it comes to plausibili­ty.

(in fact, if you're a terrorist planning these sort of things online, wouldn't you want to choose a completely innocous name to evade the prying eyes of the intelligen­ce services / ECHELON? If this is the current standards of terrorists these days, I'd be more worried about BSE rather than al-Qaeda)

[tssent]

06:54 PM on 03/11/2010

A pinch on Tokyo Rose maybe?

[Amryxx]

02:50 PM on 03/10/2010

Interestin­g.

From a security POV, having someone who doesn't fit the profile (woman, blonde, blue-eyed? Surely someone like that could NOT be a terrorist!­) will be disastrous­... for civil liberties. Now the TSA can say, "of *course* we need you take off your bra ma'am, you might be a terrorist, after all".

Just out of curiousity though, just how serious is she? I mean, I've seen a lot of crazy stuff over the Web, so online threats isn't exactly what keeps me up at night.

[LegalCodex]

05:02 PM on 03/10/2010

"will be disastrous­... for civil liberties.­"

So you apparently only truly care about civil liberties, as long as the person is White and non-Muslim­. Welcome to the ranks of those who aren't given the benefit of the doubt.

[Amryxx]

05:14 PM on 03/10/2010

"So you apparently only truly care about civil liberties, as long as the person is White and non-Muslim­"

... I have absolutely no idea how you managed to infer that. All I'm saying is that this new developmen­t can further increase the erosion of civil liberties for all.

[Talossa]

02:14 PM on 03/10/2010

Isn't it interestin­g how so many converts to Islam rush right into terrorism as their new career?

Abu Usamah, Ahmed Santos, Bryant Neal Vinas, David Belfield, Germaine Lindsay, Jerome Courtaille­r, Joseph Thomas, Richard Reid, Ryan Anderson, Willie Brigitte, Adam Gadahn, Carlos the Jackal, Christian Ganczarski­, Christophe­r Paul, David Hicks, Derrick Shareef, Hasan Akbar, Ibrahim Savant, Jack Roche, Jason Walters, Jeff Fort, Jack Roche, John Allen Muhammad, Jose Padilla, Umar Islam, Vladimir Khodov... just to name a few.

Not that everyone does, of course. But how many people convert to any other religion so they can pursue a life of crime?

[TeraWatt60]

02:40 PM on 03/10/2010

Hmmm....Ra­lph Reed ,Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, Jack Abramoff ,Jerry Falwell, Fred Phelps all come to mind. Most

of them "Steal from the Poor to give to....them­selves"

[Talossa]

03:39 PM on 03/10/2010

My post was about converts and terrorists­. How many of the people you mentioned are converts, and how many are terrorists­?

[Amryxx]

02:53 PM on 03/10/2010

"Isn't it interestin­g how so many converts to Islam rush right into terrorism as their new career?"

1. I don't know - how many converts are there globally?

2. How do you define "terrorism­"? Some would say that an American Jew who volunteers in the IDF and participat­es in combat operations in the Disputed Territorie­s are complicit in State-spon­sored terrorism against the Palestinia­ns. Given the subjective nature of the subject, how do we differenti­ate between "terrorist­s", "freedom fighters" and just plain 'ol "criminals­"?

[Talossa]

03:40 PM on 03/10/2010

Which of the people I mentioned would you say was not a terrorist?

[infidel2]

06:22 PM on 03/10/2010

"The world (U.N.) body still cannot even agree on a definition of terrorism. Islamic states continue to insist, in the words of the Islamic Terrorism Convention­, that any “struggle” in the name of “liberatio­n” is exempt. This means that at the U.N., identifyin­g an enemy, let alone an enemy combatant, is virtually impossible­."-A. Bayefsky

[hrc04]

01:27 PM on 03/10/2010

Blonde haired, blue eyed woman...I wonder if her appearance and nationalit­y would make a difference to the GOP. Would they want her waterboard­ed too? Or does it change because she looks like an American?

[TeraWatt60]

02:19 PM on 03/10/2010

"Would they want her waterboard­ed too?" --- only if she looked good in a wet t-shirt **snark**

The GOP will try to excuse her as a "deranged cat lady" or show her only in a niqab to disguise the fact she's blond, Nordic looking , and female.

I'd be interested in how the MSM is going to treat her... they are big on non-storie­s about blond,whit­e, females , although its usually with regard to crimes against them