Heather Elizabeth Coffman appears to be a convert to Islam, although that is not stated in this article. Thus she becomes just the latest in a long string of examples of the fact that Muslim leaders in the U.S. are either unable or unwilling to teach converts why they should avoid this understanding of Islam that Muslims in the U.S. ostensibly reject.
“Virginia woman is accused of attempting to support Islamic State,” by Matt Zapotosky, Washington Post, November 17, 2014:
Federal authorities have arrested and charged a Henrico County woman who they say wrote Facebook posts supportive of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and offered to help someone join up with the terrorist group in Syria, court documents show.
Heather Elizabeth Coffman, 29, is charged with making a false statement regarding an offense involving international or domestic terrorism. Coffman, it seems, was caught in a sting and unknowingly offered to help an undercover FBI agent connect someone with ISIS in Syria, according to a federal affidavit. Authorities say she lied to investigators who were looking into her support for ISIS.
The case seems to be another example of the Islamic State’s robust presence on social media and the influence it is having on Americans. Only two months ago, a 19-year-old from suburban Denver pleaded guilty to trying to help the terrorist organization after she tried to board a flight to get to Turkey. She reportedly was trying to connect with a man she met online. And last month, three other teenaged girls from the Denver area were detained at the airport in Germany and questioned for possibly trying to join ISIS. A school official said they were victims of an “online predator.”
It is unclear what inspired Coffman’s interest in ISIS, or whether she possessed the means to connect anyone with the group.
Mark Henry Schmidt, Coffman’s defense attorney, said the young woman was born and raised in the U.S., lived with her parents and cared for her 7-year-old child. He said that he was unaware of any tangible, foreign connection, and at first blush, the case seemed to him one of “Facebook going badly.”
“As far as I know she hasn’t traveled anywhere. Her connections with the outside world would be on the Internet,” Schmidt said. “I imagine you can get into trouble on the Internet, but I imagine you can also think a lot more’s going on than really is. If nothing else, this is certainly a cautionary tale about the Internet.”
According to the FBI affidavit, Coffman told an undercover agent that she had previously arranged for a man she termed her “husband” to travel to Turkey so he could meet with ISIS facilitators and eventually make his way into Syria. She described “concrete steps” she had taken to achieve that end, according to the affidavit. But Coffman and the man soon separated, and he backed out of the plan, according to the affidavit.
The FBI’s investigation of Coffman seemed to begin in April, as agents took note of her pro-ISIS postings on Facebook and sought search warrants to access her various accounts. On June 23, for example, Coffman posted two images with the text, “WE ARE ALL ISIS, ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ & SHAM,” according to the affidavit. On June 28, when someone asked why Coffman was posting in favor of the terrorist group, she responded, “I love ISIS!” according to the affidavit.
Coffman later wrote about persuading her sister to develop an interest in the group and said, “My dad is a little angry because I got her into all this jihad stuff,” according to the affidavit. A woman who identified herself as Coffman’s mother declined to comment Monday.
Good for dad.
An FBI agent posing as someone with views similar to Coffman’s made contact with her in July and, some months later, told her about an associate who wanted to travel to Syria to fight with ISIS, according to the affidavit. Coffman offered to help the associate connect with an ISIS facilitator and even claimed to be able to verify the facilitator’s legitimacy, according to the affidavit….
awake says
“If nothing else, this is certainly a cautionary tale about the internet.”
Uh-huh. Sure.
PJG says
Yes, that was what jumped out at me, too. The internet. If someone can read about ISIS and think it’s okay, it’s not where he reads it that’s the problem, the problem is in his head.
Coolio says
There’s an open Internet vortex here on Al Jazeera discussing designation of CAIR as a terrorist group by UAE. Please join me on the comments; I would appreciate support.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/11/egypt-students-military-court-20141116192057805603.html
Coolio says
Ha, that comment stayed up for about 5 minutes!
mortimer says
Consider yourself stung, Heather. Islam teaches violence against disbelievers solely because they are disbelievers. It’s illegal to solicit murder. That is the lesson, all you aspiring jihadists.
abad says
Iraq is a much better place for Muslims converts to be, not the USA
mortimer says
Yes. They will be sent wearing bombs to the front then detonated by local Arabs who think of them as untrustworthy and expendable. The gullibility of the Western volunteer jihadists is beyond breathtaking.
jewdog says
Letting people like this go abroad to help ISIS, but not come back, would be beneficial; it would get rid of dangerous troublemakers and idiots. The great Geert Wilders is strongly in favor of the go-and-be-gone policy for Holland.
Champ says
Heather Elizabeth Coffman appears to be a convert to Islam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A convert to evil islam?! Wow Heather has chosen *most* unwisely–tsk, tsk!
JOHN SPIELMAN says
she’s just another ISIS whore wannabe
Champ says
Exactly, John! This woman sold her soul for EVIL islam …
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” — Romans 12:9
A wiser choice would be Jesus, who is the “good” shepherd …
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” — John 10:11
The only thing evil islam brings is hell on earth.
citycat says
Evil Islam is an unnatural beast though the muslims are humans
A beast will never be human
Montedoro44 says
“. . . all this jihad stuff . . .”
I love ISIS! I do! It’s so cool!
That’s something I heard once in school.
OMG! It’s a fad
And so totally rad!
Up the caliphate! Chill, Muslims rule!
Charli Main says
I wonder if all these “Jihadi Jane” western converts running to join their new masters in Syria, have to have their clitorises hacked off to show that they are now good little slaves of Allah??????????
Troy says
This Virginia muslima seems that she needs a psychology help. She is sick woman.
mortimer says
Islamic Stockholm syndrome. Excited by being near murderers.
mortimer says
“It is impossible – for any human being to read the biography of Muhammad and believe in it and yet emerge a psychologically and mentally healthy person.” –Dr.Wafa Sultan, psychiatrist
Mirren10 says
”This Virginia muslima seems that she needs a psychology help.”
Psychological help is for people who suffer from genuine mental illness. It is wasted on the congenitally evil, which is what this bitch has proved herself to be.
Anyone who supports the IS, and offers to help people join up with them, is not mentally ill, they are evil, pure and simple.
I do wish people would stop suggesting these people are mentally ill, or in need of some sort of help. They are simply evil people who love evil, and have made a conscious choice to forward it.
Hummer says
Has the muslim in the WH pardoned her yet?
Wolfenberry says
This girl clearly has mental problems. And, if she’s just been honest with investigators, we probably would not be reading about her today. The only crime she has committed, probably, was lying to investigators during the course of an investigation. I doubt they could or would have charged her with facilitating terrorism– apparently the only “contacts” or ability to forge contacts with terrorists existed only in her addled brain. And apparently she’s never even been to the Middle East, nor outside of the country. She would have been persuaded to enter mental therapy, at worst, if only she’d been honest. What a moron.