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A middle-class upstate New York mom has been charged with allegedly supporting an Islamic terrorist organization after donating $30,000 in cryptocurrency to the violent, antisemitic group, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Catherine Beth Washburn, 37, a self-proclaimed stay-at-home mom, according to her Facebook account, exchanged messages with a terrorist in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group in Gaza, once telling him “I wish every day were October 7,” according to prosecutors in the Western District of New York.
Washburn, who is from Irondequoit, just outside of Rochester, is the alleged leader of an extremist group that formed in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel in 2023, the feds said.
The anti-Israel group, called the Direct Action Movement for Palestinian Liberation, rejects peaceful protests and encourages sabotage and property destruction, according to prosecutors.
Old media photos show her as a mother of two children, smiling with her husband. She lived in a $280,000, three-bedroom house and appears to have spent significant time in the small town of Dansville.
However, her social media accounts are now filled with pics of her wearing a hijab and anti-Israel diatribes — including one post showing the home addresses of so-called “Zionists.”
It’s unclear whether she converted to Islam or exactly when she allegedly became radicalized.
In her messages with the PIJ fighter, Washburn allegedly said, “If I lived in Gaza, I would fight alongside the resistance.”
She also said she hated Jews “very much” and wished Israel “would disappear,” the feds claimed.
“I feel excited every time I see news of the killing of an occupation soldier,” she said, referring to Israeli soldiers.
Washburn then sent the fighter a total of $30,000 in cryptocurrency through 80 separate transfers, the feds alleged.
And in a November 2025 message, she predicted she would face hard time for her involvement with the group.
“Based on my passed [sic] fundraising and posting Im [sic] gonna get put away for a few life times,” she wrote adding a laughing emoji, the feds claimed.
Washburn also took a selfie of herself and placed the image next to the Hamas flag and two hand grenades, prosecutors claimed.
She is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. She faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.
Washburn appeared in federal court in Buffalo Wednesday where she was held without bail.
“This defendant, fueled by her self-described hate of Israel and Jewish people, went to great lengths to attempt to provide financial support to terrorist organizations that use violence to further their agendas, including the Palestine Islamic Jihad,” U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo for the Western District of New York said in a statement.
“Despite her alleged attempts, including cryptic communications with a fighter involved in violent attacks in an area thousands of miles away, Catherine Washburn was stopped and so too were her efforts to support violent extremism.”
Washburn’s criminal defense attorney didn’t immediately return a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
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