The April 2015 New York City pressure cooker bomb plot was a plot by Asia Siddiqui, a Pakistani American,, and Noelle Velentzas to build a pressure cooker bomb in New York City. Siddiqui was in contact with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, while Velentzas seemed to support the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The two had researched bomb making and purchased bomb making materials but were arrested before they selected a target.
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Arrests
The women were arrested on April 2, 2015. According to the complaint, officers found "three propane gas tanks, soldering tools, pipes, a pressure cooker, fertilizer, flux, detailed handwritten notes on the recipes for bomb making, and extensive jihadist literature" at Siddiqui's apartment. Velentzas had information on creating bombs from propane tanks and a picture of Osama bin Laden. Velentzas also questioned why people would travel to Syria when there were ways of "pleasing Allah" in the United States. The two had been roommates until shortly before their arrest. Their plot was exposed by an undercover agent posing as a third conspirator.
Charges
The two were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.