The story of Allison Fluke-Ekren, a Kansas mother who became an ISIS leader of an all-women battalion in Syria, is deeply disturbing.

The origin of her obsession with ISIS is murky, but what we do know is that after the birth of her fifth child, Fluke-Ekren and her family left the United States permanently in 2011, having split time between Egypt and the U.S. since 2008. They allegedly went to Syria in 2012, and from there the story gets very complicated and messy.

Prosecutors believe she moved to Syria around 2012. In early 2016, her husband was killed in the Syrian city of Tell Abyad while trying to carry out a terrorist attack, prosecutors said. Later that year, prosecutors say she married a Bangladeshi ISIS member who specialized in drones, but he died in late 2016 or early 2017.”

Four months after that man’s death, she again remarried a prominent Islamic state leader who was responsible for the Islamic State group’s defense of Raqqa.”

She told one witness in 2018 that she instructed a person in Syria to tell Fluke-Ekren’s Family she was dead so the U.S. government would not try to find her, according to (First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj) Parekh’s memo.”

And what was she doing in Syria, hanging around with ISIS? The DOJ statement is pretty clear that she was fully radicalized, leading a battalion of women, and training children to fight for ISIS.

As alleged in the criminal complaint, Allison Elizabeth Fluke-Ekren, aka “Allison Elizabeth Brooks,” aka “Allison Ekren,” aka “Umm Mohammed al-Amriki,” aka “Umm Mohammed,” and aka “Umm Jabril,” 42, a former resident of Kansas, traveled to Syria several years ago for the purpose of committing or supporting terrorism. Since her departure from the United States, Fluke-Ekren has allegedly been involved with a number of terrorism-related activities on behalf of ISIS from at least 2014. These activities allegedly include, but are not limited to, planning and recruiting operatives for a potential future attack on a college campus inside the United States and serving as the appointed leader and organizer of an ISIS military battalion, known as the Khatiba Nusaybah, in order to train women on the use of automatic firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and suicide belts. Additionally, Fluke-Ekren allegedly provided ISIS and ISIS members with services, which included providing lodging, translating speeches made by ISIS leaders, training children on the use of AK-47 assault rifles and suicide belts and teaching extremist ISIS doctrine.”

This wasn’t just a mom gone wrong, or someone who just got swept up in the moment. This woman is dangerous.

The complaint details the eyewitness observations of six separate individuals who collectively observed Fluke-Ekren’s alleged terrorist conduct from at least 2014 through approximately 2017. For example, Fluke-Ekren allegedly told a witness about her desire to conduct an attack in the United States. To conduct the attack, Fluke-Ekren allegedly explained that she could go to a shopping mall in the United States, park a vehicle full of explosives in the basement or parking garage level of the structure, and detonate the explosives in the vehicle with a cell phone triggering device. Fluke-Ekren allegedly considered any attack that did not kill a large number of individuals to be a waste of resources. As alleged by the same witness, Fluke-Ekren would hear about external attacks taking place in countries outside the United States and would comment that she wished the attack occurred on United States soil instead.”

The complaint further describes Fluke-Ekren’s alleged leadership role in the Khatiba Nusaybah. According to a witness, in or about late 2016, the “Wali” (or ISIS-appointed mayor) of Raqqa, Syria, allegedly permitted the opening of the “Khatiba Nusaybah,” which was a military battalion comprised solely of female ISIS members who were married to male ISIS fighters. Shortly thereafter, Fluke-Ekren allegedly became the leader and organizer of the battalion. Fluke-Ekren’s alleged main objective in this role was to teach the women of ISIS how to defend themselves against ISIS’ enemies. According to another witness, ISIS allegedly mandated women who were staying in Raqqa during the 2017 siege to attend the training. The siege was launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIS with an aim to seize Raqqa, the former de facto capital of ISIS in Syria. The battle began on or about June 6, 2017 and concluded on or about Oct. 17, 2017, at which point the SDF regained controlled of Raqqa.”

Given Fluke-Ekren’s comprehension of what would cause the most damage to innocent civilians in the United States, and the evidence being laid out that if she had had the opportunity, she certainly would have carried out an attack here, means that it is a very good thing that this woman is now in federal custody after being caught in Syria. The details of her arrest are being left deliberately vague, but she is now officially back in the United States, having been handed over to the FBI on Friday. She is supposed to appear in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, tomorrow afternoon.

Now, women have been radicalized before, and lived to regret their decisions.

The problem is twofold with Allison Fluke-Ekren. First, there is zero indication that she has any regrets about what she did, and the fact that she tried to convince her family that she was dead so that she wouldn’t be caught speaks to her frame of mind. Let’s say she is convicted of “providing and conspiring to provide material support to ISIS,” which could carry a 20 year sentence. What happens to her after that? Is she stripped of her citizenship and expelled from the country? Does the federal government take a chance on letting her out in 20 years? There will still be terror groups like ISIS in 20 years, happy to accept an American back into their ranks.

The second problem is her children. Allison Fluke-Ekren had five children, with her youngest now on the verge of turning 12, according to her own blog that she kept for a short period of time. Those children are all American citizens, having been (apparently) all born in the United States with at least one parent who is a natural-born citizen (I am uncertain if all the children are from the same father). These children, some who must be adults by now, are mentioned in the news reports as having been moved to Syria by their mother, and been trained by her to handle weapons. There is no mention of where these kids, three boys and two girls, are now. Are they still in Syria? Are her daughters – one of whom was photographed routinely wearing a hijab while in Egypt – now “married off” to ISIS fighters like their mother was? Does the federal government have any idea where they are? Does their own mother know where they are?

And worse, does their mother even care where they are now?

Featured image: composite photo from the published pictures on Allison Fluke-Ekren’s personal blog