What to Know
- Federal prosecutors in New York have charged a 20-year-old Georgia woman with conspiring to support the Islamic State
- Kim Anh Vo, 20, was arrested in Hephzibah, Georgia, on charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorist organization
- If convicted, Vo faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; It was not immediately clear if Vo retained an attorney
Federal prosecutors in New York announced charges Tuesday against a woman accused of recruiting cyber supporters to an online group that published "kill lists" on behalf of the Islamic State.
Kim Anh Vo was arrested in Georgia Tuesday and scheduled to appear in federal court in Augusta, Georgia, on charges of conspiring to provide material support to the designated foreign terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, commonly referred to as ISIS.
According to a criminal complaint, Vo joined an online group called the United Cyber Caliphate that pledged allegiance to Islamic State Group and spread propaganda on its behalf and committed to carrying out online attacks and cyber intrusions against Americans.
The criminal complaint says Vo recruited members to the group to assist in hacking efforts and published “"kill lists," which list the names of individuals – for example, soldiers in the United States Armed Forces and members of the State Department – and instruct their followers to kill the listed individuals.”
Additionally, according to the complaint, on or about April 21, 2016, the United Cyber Caliphate group posted online the names, addresses and other identifying information of about 3,602 people in the New York City area, including residents. The list was posted along with the message: ““List of most important citizens of #New York and #Brooklyn and some other cities MORE THAN #3000 NAME We Want them #Dead.”
Prosecutors also accuse Vo of recruiting others to join the group’s hacking efforts between April 2016 and May 2017, including a minor in Norway who was allegedly recruited to create online content in support of ISIS, including a video threatening a non-profit organization based in New York, New York, which was formed to find and combat the online promotion of extremist ideologies.
Local
Vo is charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
It was not immediately clear whether Vo had an attorney.
