American 'Jihad Jane' Charged in Terror Plot

A suburban Philadelphia woman who referred to herself as a bored "Jihad Jane" on her MySpace page and YouTube video has been charged with recruiting terrorists and plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist. Petite blond Colleen LaRose wrote in an email to a co-conspirator that her appearance would allow her to "blend in with many people," which "may be a way to achieve what is in my heart," the indictment against her states. When a contact told her to kill cartoonist Lar Vilks, LaRose, 47, reportedly emailed back: "I will make this my goal or die trying."

LaRose—whose online postings attracted the attention of fellow extremists, as well as the FBI—has been in custody since October, but her arrest was made public only after 7 people were arrested yesterday in Ireland for allegedly plotting to kill Vilks, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Prosecutors say she flew to Europe last year "with the intent to live and train with jihadists, and to find and kill" Vilks. She was busted on her return to the US.
(More Jihad Jane stories.)