Brooklyn woman Halina Salman convicted of ISIS military training
A federal jury rejected her claim that she was forced into the role and sentenced her to face up to a decade in prison.
By Andrew Yang ·
Halina Salman, 27, was found guilty by a federal jury in Brooklyn of receiving military training from the Islamic State while in Syria. The verdict concluded a two-week trial in which Salman argued she was held in marital captivity and coerced into the role by her family. She now faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
The jury returned its decision four days after Salman took the stand to testify on her own behalf. She described how her father, an ISIS fighter, moved her family to ISIS-controlled territory in Syria when she was 17. According to her testimony, she was married to a stranger after her 18th birthday for a $5,000 payment. Salman told the court she was forced to live in a crowded guest house with other women and children, where she was told to hurry upon arrival.
Prosecutors argued that Salman was a willing participant and a devoted bride within the organization. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Shami pointed to Salman's decision to adopt an ISIS name, or kunya, which included the phrase "foreign fighter." Shami stated, "The defendant made conscious choices to support ISIS, a violent and brutal organization." The government contended that Salman gave her married name to coalition forces after surrendering and claimed a birth in Germany to support her narrative of assimilation.
The evidence presented to the jury included a photo of a handwritten document on her husband's phone stating she was authorized to receive a weapon. A 20-second video recorded by her husband showed her handling and drilling with an AK-47. The prosecution also cited the Nusaybah Khatiba, an all-female ISIS brigade, as the unit where she received training.
Salman's attorney, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, argued that the direct evidence was insufficient to prove a formal training session occurred. "The government did not bring to you a single witness that attended a training in 2018," Eisner-Grynberg said during closing arguments. She described the conviction as a grave miscarriage of justice, noting that Salman testified she never saw the document purporting to authorize her weapon handling.
Salman described her daily life in Syria as a struggle to survive. She explained that she sent selfies to her husband using a phone that lacked cellular or internet connectivity and could only communicate via a Bluetooth app. "If I had a bad day, I'd try to please him so I could give myself a decent day," she told the jury. Her mother, Brandy Salman, wept in the front row of the courtroom as the jury left the room to deliberate.
The trial ended with the jury accepting the prosecution's theory over the defense's claim of captivity. Salman, wearing a light purple hijab and a pink hoodie, broke down in tears as the verdict was read. The case serves as a focal point for debates regarding the treatment of returnees from conflict zones and the standards of evidence in federal terrorism trials.
