ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An American woman who prosecutors say led an all-female battalion of Islamic State militants in Syria has pleaded guilty in a case that a prosecutor called a first-of-its-kind in the United States.
Allison Fluke-Ekren who once lived in Kansas broke down sobbing after admitting in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia on Tuesday to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
Her guilty plea resolves a criminal case that came to light in January after Fluke-Ekren was brought to the U.S. to face accusations that she led an Islamic State unit of women and young girls and trained them in the use of automatic rifles, grenades and suicide belts.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An American woman is set to plead guilty Tuesday to leading an all-female battalion of Islamic State militants in Syria, court records show.
A plea hearing for Allison Fluke-Ekren is to take place in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, according to a court notation. Her lawyer did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Fluke-Ekren, who once lived in Kansas, was brought to the U.S. in January to face a criminal charge of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. She moved to Egypt in 2008 and starting in late 2016, according to prosecutors, she led an all-female Islamic State unit in the Syrian city of Raqqa that was trained in the use of AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts.
A detention memo filed by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh says she trained children how to use assault rifles and at least one witness saw one of her children — approximately 6 or 7 years old — holding a machine gun in the family’s home in Syria.
Prosecutors have also said Fluke-Ekren wanted to recruit operatives to attack a college campus in the U.S. and discussed a terrorist attack on a shopping mall. She told one witness that “she considered any attack that did not kill a large number of individuals to be a waste of resources,” according to an FBI affidavit.
A criminal complaint against Fluke-Ekren was filed under seal in 2019 but not made public until she was brought back to the U.S. to face charges.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The family of a Kansas woman charged with joining the Islamic State group and leading an all-female battalion says they want nothing to do with her, a prosecutor said Monday.
Allison Ekren, 42, made an initial appearance on Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The hearing lasted only minutes; she was ordered to remain in jail pending a detention hearing set for Thursday afternoon, and an attorney was appointed to represent her.
At the end of the hearing, though, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh told the judge that he had been in contact with Ekren’s parents and her adult children, and all had said they wanted no contact with her.
The magistrate judge, Ivan Davis, said he had little ability to keep her from reaching out to her family from jail, but told Ekren he would take it into account at Thursday’s hearing if she contacted her family against their wishes.
Ekren, speaking in a soft-spoken voice and wearing an inmate jumpsuit and headscarf, said she understood the restriction. She also told the judge, in response to his question, that she preferred to be addressed as Ekren. The Justice Department used her full name, Allison Fluke-Ekren, when it announced charges against her Saturday.
Prosecutors say Ekren wanted to recruit operatives to attack a college campus in the U.S. and discussed the idea of attacking a shopping mall. She told one witness that “she considered any attack that did not kill a large number of individuals to be a waste of resources,” according to an FBI affidavit.
The affidavit also alleges Ekren became leader of an Islamic State unit called “Khatiba Nusaybah” in the Syrian city of Raqqa in late 2016. The all-female unit was trained in the use of AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts.
According to court papers, Ekren moved to Egypt in 2008 and traveled frequently between Egypt and the U.S. over the next three years. She has not been in the U.S. since 2011. Prosecutors believe she moved to Syria around 2012.
Ekren’s newly appointed attorney, Joseph King, declined comment after Monday’s hearing.