"Jihad Jane" Pleads Not Guilty to Terrorism Charges

Despite telling the FBI she was planning to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on the body of a dog, Colleen LaRose, aka Jihad Jane, has pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday. LaRose has been in custody since October, but officials haven't released much information about her. She is believed to have been converted to Islam in 2008, when she began visiting countless Muslim websites. She goes against all the stereotypes of radical Islamists: young, disaffected, male, and Muslim. Even her boyfriend did not know she was Muslim. Officials believe that LaRose is an exception to the stereotypes, not the beginning of a trend, and they believe her radicalism stems more from a troubled life than religious belief.

Is Jihad Jane an exception, or does she signify a larger group of unsatisfied Westerners defecting to Muslim extremism?

Jihad Jane