NEW YORK (AP) — A New York woman accused of receiving weapons training from the Islamic State group was tricked by her father into traveling to Syria, where she became an unwilling teen bride to a militant fighter, her lawyer told a jury Thursday.
Halima Salman, a U.S. citizen born in Brooklyn, was 17 when her father took the family to Turkey in 2017, then put her in a van without saying where they were going and drove into Syria, where the van was surrounded by men with guns, according to her lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg.
There, she became caught up in the Syrian Civil War. She spent three months locked in a room while the sound of bombs striking nearby targets could frequently be heard. Her father, an Islamic State sympathizer, died after he was injured in a bombing in 2018, but not before arranging for her to marry a member of the group when she turned 18. She was then detained in Baghouz, Syria, in 2019 by forces opposed to the Islamic State.
When Salman returned to the U.S. in 2024, she was arrested and charged with willingly undergoing military training with the Islamic State in 2018, when she was 18.
“Find her not guilty,” Eisner-Grynberg told a jury Thursday as Salman used her clothing to wipe away tears. She said Salman had “been through hell and back" since leaving New York, where she had been in the Girl Scouts and studied sewing and craft making.
Prosecutors insist Salman had more agency in Syria than she claims.
In her closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Shami portrayed Salman, now 27, as dishonest and manipulative.
She said Salman had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State and sent her then-husband a photograph of her with the group's flag. She had also been filmed by her husband with an assault rifle she had been trained to use. Jurors were shown the brief video clip.
During the trial, Salman took the witness stand and testified that her marriage was bad before she left Syria and divorced her husband. The prosecutor, Shami, disputed that account of a poor marriage, citing two loving text messages Salman sent to her husband.
“Her statements on the stand don't make sense,” Shami said.
Eisner-Grynberg said the government was right to investigate Salman after her time in Syria but should not have brought charges after failing to find anyone who had seen her undergoing weapons training. She said prosecutors could not show that Salman ever took a serious interest in the Islamic State, which has been designated by the United States as a terror group.
“You can come back here in five minutes with a not-guilty verdict,” Eisner-Grynberg told jurors. “This is a grave miscarriage of justice,” she said of the prosecution.
The jury began deliberating Thursday.
Halima Salman shields her face as she leaves federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026.” (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Halima Salman shields her face as she leaves federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026.” (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
CHICAGO (AP) — Round 2 went to Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears.
Williams passed for 308 yards and two touchdowns, and the Bears cooled off Drake Maye and the New England Patriots with a 30-24 victory Thursday night.
It was the second meeting between the young quarterbacks since they were part of the 2024 NFL draft. Maye, who was selected by New England at No. 3, directed the Patriots to a 19-3 victory over Williams and the Bears when the longtime friends were rookies.
But Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, leaned on Luther Burden and Colston Loveland while outlasting Maye and the Patriots in the rematch. Williams connected on 22 of 33 passes in his second game back after being sidelined by a right hamstring injury.
“These nights are awesome,” Williams said. “You play against another good team on a primetime game in a short week, these games are awesome because you get to see who you are as a team. That’s who we are. We’re a smashmouth football team, an innovative team. And when things happen and things don’t go our way and the water is rocky, we stay steady.”
Maye was 24 for 31 for 321 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 7-yard run for New England's first TD with 11:33 left in the first half.
But Maye also was intercepted by Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson in the end zone on a pass intended for rookie tight end Eli Raridon late in the second quarter.
“It’s those plays, I talk about it all the time,” Maye said. “You know those plays that can swing the game, can impact the game and that was definitely one of them right there. Yeah, I wish I definitely had that one back.”
New England (4-3) had won three consecutive games behind Maye, who threw 10 TD passes and one interception during the win streak.
Burden had four catches for 130 yards for Chicago (5-2), and Loveland had a 12-yard touchdown reception. Cairo Santos kicked a 58-yard field goal with 1:34 left, a career long and matching the franchise record, after he missed a 53-yard attempt earlier in the final quarter.
Williams became the first Bears quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in consecutive games since Mitch Trubisky had a three-game run in 2018.
“I think he did a pretty good job throughout the night,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “I know he had a number of explosive plays. He found some of those guys at the second level that were huge for us.”
After Santos’ long field goal, Maye drove New England into range for Andy Borregales’ 47-yarder with 37 seconds to go. But Chicago recovered the ensuing onside kick.
Rhamondre Stevenson had five catches for 93 yards and a touchdown for the Patriots. Raridon had a 30-yard TD catch in the third quarter.
It was Chicago’s first home game since Mike Ditka died on Oct. 9. The Bears saluted the Hall of Fame tight end and longtime coach with a pregame moment of silence, and they also handed out fake mustaches to the crowd of 60,520 at Soldier Field.
Ditka’s No. 89 jersey dotted the stands, and fans also donned Bears sweaters in a callback to what he wore on the sideline as a coach.
Chicago opened a 20-7 lead on Burden’s 24-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left in the first half. Burden got the ball on a screen on third-and-17, and Loveland, Kalif Raymond and Darnell Wright helped clear the way for his second TD reception of the season.
Set to receive the second-half kickoff, the Bears were in position to pull away. But the Patriots responded with Stevenson’s 48-yard touchdown reception on the final play of the period.
Stevenson slipped out of the backfield and Maye lobbed the ball over the head of Bears safety Cam Lewis. Stevenson ran away from Lewis and got a downfield block from DeMario Douglas before cutting past Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson on his way to the end zone.
“I feel like it brought us some momentum, but obviously not enough,” Stevenson said. “We didn’t come out with the win.”
Patriots: CB Christian Gonzalez played after being listed as questionable because of an illness. ... S Kevin Byard departed after he was checked out by trainers with 9:44 left in first half. He later returned. ... DT Christian Barmore departed late in the game.
Bears: CB Malik Muhammad left in the third quarter with a toe injury. ... TE Cole Kmet hurt his right knee on a reception with 5:34 left.
Patriots: At Miami on Nov. 1.
Bears: At Seattle for a Monday night game on Nov. 2.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Chicago Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson (48) celebrates after intercepting a pass in the end zone during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson (48) intercepts a pass intended for New England Patriots tight end Eli Raridon (82) as Cam Lewis, center, looks on during the first half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/David Banks)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos (8) watches his 58-yard field goal late in the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/David Banks)
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) scrambles as during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
