An 18-year-old woman from Lexington, North Carolina, and a 16-year-old from the Houston area have been arrested in an alleged plot to drive through a congregation at a Houston synagogue and "kill as many Jews as possible," according to court documents and law enforcement officials.
Angelina Han Hicks was arrested Wednesday and is being held in Davidson County jail under a $10 million bond. She faces two felony charges of conspiring with two male co-conspirators to commit murder and assault against members of Congregation Beth Israel in Houston. Court documents describe an attack planned for April 21, 2028.
The FBI's Charlotte Joint Terrorism Task Force opened the investigation Tuesday evening after receiving a tip from a North Carolina law enforcement agency. By Thursday, the Houston Police Department announced the arrest of the 16-year-old on charges of conspiracy to commit capital murder.
District Court Judge Carlton Terry, explaining why Hicks must remain detained, wrote that the alleged conspiracy is "to kill as many Jews as possible by driving through a congregation at a synagogue." He added that allowing a co-conspirator contact with others "puts lives at risk."
Although the plot as documented targeted a date two years away, prosecutors said there had been "some concern that there could be an imminent event" targeting the synagogue. Alan Martin, a senior assistant district attorney in Davidson County, made that disclosure in an interview. No motive has been formally disclosed.
Houston police said the FBI and the Houston Independent School District police department assisted in the 16-year-old's arrest. "At this time, there is no other known credible threat," the department said in a release, without naming the synagogue specifically.
The arrests come roughly one month after an armed man crashed his pickup truck into a major Detroit-area synagogue in a separate attack. Synagogues across the country have increased security since the United States and Israel launched the war with Iran in late February.
Hicks' court-appointed attorney, Chad Freeman, told the Houston Chronicle that the case was in its early stages.
