Alexandria, Va. — The household of a Kansas lady charged with becoming a member of the Islamic State group and main an all-female battalion says they need nothing to do together with her, a prosecutor mentioned Monday.
Allison Ekren, 42, made an preliminary look on Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court docket in Alexandria. The listening to lasted solely minutes; she was ordered to stay in jail pending a detention listening to set for Thursday afternoon, and an lawyer was appointed to symbolize her.
On the finish of the listening to, although, First Assistant U.S. Lawyer Raj Parekh advised the decide that he had been involved with Ekren's dad and mom and her grownup kids, and all had mentioned they needed no contact together with her. The prosecutor requested the decide to order her to not contact them.
The Justice of the Peace decide, Ivan Davis, mentioned he had little potential to maintain her from reaching out to her household from jail, however advised Ekren he would take it under consideration at Thursday's listening to if she contacted her household towards their needs.
Ekren, talking in a soft-spoken voice and carrying an inmate jumpsuit and headband, mentioned she understood the restriction. She additionally advised the decide, in response to his query, that she most popular to be addressed as Ekren. The Justice Division used her full title, Allison Fluke-Ekren, when it introduced costs towards her Saturday.
Prosecutors say Ekren needed to recruit operatives to assault a university campus within the U.S. and mentioned the concept of attacking a shopping center. She advised one witness that "she thought-about any assault that didn't kill numerous people to be a waste of sources," in response to an FBI affidavit.
The affidavit additionally alleges Ekren grew to become chief of an Islamic State unit referred to as "Khatiba Nusaybah" within the Syrian metropolis of Raqqa in late 2016. Investigators alleged she skilled the all-female unit "on using automated firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades, and suicide belts."
Based on court docket papers, Ekren moved to Egypt in 2008 and traveled continuously between Egypt and the U.S. over the following three years. She has not been within the U.S. since 2011. Prosecutors imagine she moved to Syria round 2012.
Ekren's newly appointed lawyer, Joseph King, declined remark after Monday's listening to.
Robert Legare contributed reporting.