Key facts
- Salman was convicted of receiving weapons training from the Islamic State group.
- Prosecutors presented a video of Salman holding an assault rifle and a photo with the group's flag.
- The defense argued Salman was a teenager trapped in Syria and forced to comply with her husband's orders.
- Salman's conviction carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
- Sentencing is scheduled for February 2.
A US citizen, Halima Salman, was convicted on Tuesday of receiving weapons training from the Islamic State group after her father took her to Syria as a teenager and arranged her marriage to a fighter. Prosecutors argued Salman pledged loyalty to the group and willingly participated in its activities, presenting evidence including a video of her holding an assault rifle and loving text messages to her husband. The defense claimed she was a teenager trapped in Syria, first by her father and later by her husband, and that leaving would have meant death. Salman testified she refused to be married off at 18 and tried repeatedly to get a divorce. She was arrested by US authorities upon returning to New York in 2024 after being detained in Baghuz, Syria, in 2019. Her father died in 2018 after being injured in an airstrike.