Colleen LaRose: The New American terrorist?

By Doug Hagmann —— Bio and Archives March 10, 2010

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A four-count count indictment issued against Colleen Renee LaRose, 46, formerly of 429 Main Street, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, was unsealed yesterday by federal authorities in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The indictment charges LaRose with one count each of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft. The indictment also references five other co-conspirators, including one who resides in the U.S., although none of the five were identified by name.

LaRose came to the attention of federal authorities in 2008, when she allegedly began using the internet to solicit financial and material support to wage Jihad, or holy Islamic war against the West. Using the internet pseudonyms “JihadJane” and “Fatima Rose,” LaRose posted on Islamic internet forums, YouTube and FaceBook in an attempt to befriend and rally like-minded Muslims to her cause. She expressed her desire to advance Islamic holy war and become a shahed, or martyr, for Islam. Others living within and outside of the U.S. answered her calls, and she began to put her alleged murderous plans into action. Her online activities abruptly stopped when she was arrested by federal authorities in on October 15, 2009, on charges of transferring a stolen U.S. passport to a co-conspirator. Following her arrest, she was incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Philadelphia where she currently remains. The indictment released Tuesday offers only a limited glimpse into the activities and ambitions of Colleen LaRose. Her path to “Islamic jihad” is neither exclusive nor exceptional, despite her U.S. citizenship and decidedly Western appearance. In fact, the case of Colleen LaRose can be an example of an emerging breed of Islamic terrorists and a template illustrating the developing threat posed by an ideology motivated by hatred. More...