FBI officials confirmed Wednesday an Arvada, Colorado woman has been charged with aiding an ISIS terror group. 19-year-old Shannon Maureen Conley was arrested April 8 at the Denver International Airport after confirming to FBI agents her intent of waging Jihad, also known as a holy war.
Agents claim she met a Tunisian suitor, identified as Y.M., online and planned to join Y.M. and the militant group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq) in Syria where she would use her training from the U.S. Army Explorers to aid the Islamic cause against the governments of Iraq and Syria.
Denver’s ABC 7 reports Conley’s plans to marry her Tunisian suitor went against the wishes of her family.
Church staff of Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada first discovered clues of Conley’s scheme.
“Authorities began investigating Conley on Nov. 5, 2013, when the pastor at Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada called local police and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to report a teen had been spotted suspiciously taking notes at the church's main campus at 6120 Ward Road on several Sundays at October, according to a federal affidavit supporting the criminal complaint,” reports ABC 7.
FBI agents also contend Conley’s luggage contained items related
“Agents found several CDs and DVDs labeled ‘Anwar al-Awlaki,’ a senior Al Qaeda leader and recruiter who was killed by a CIA-led U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011. Agents also found a folder with materials about providing first aid in the field. The teen was also carrying a list of contacts, including phone numbers for a person whose name was blacked out in the affidavit.”
In 2007, a Youth With a Mission training facility on the campus of Faith Bible Chapel was the scene of a mass shooting where two missionary workers were killed.
Publication date: July 3, 2014
