The center-class upstate New York mother accused of donating $30,000 to a lethal terrorist group “turned extra Muslim” after Oct. 7 and even pressured her personal daughter to put on a hijab, neighbors advised The Submit.
Catherine Beth Washburn — a 37-year-old mother of two from Irondequoit — who allegedly led a home-grown anti-Israel extremist group, started sporting Muslim garb shortly after the Hamas assault on Israel in 2023, in response to neighbors, who described the unconventional as standoffish and unfriendly.
She as soon as screamed at her now 6-year-old daughter to “come inside and dress up” in her hijab, neighbor Donna Glover stated.
Washburn wasn’t sporting the outfit when Glover moved into the quaint neighborhood exterior Rochester round 5 years in the past, she stated — however after the beginning of the battle in Gaza “she simply turned extra Muslim.”
A tattered Palestinian flag remained on the ranch-style dwelling Thursday when The Submit visited — three months after neighbors reported seeing a SWAT crew break down the door and raid the home.
“I’ve a sense they have been attempting to push, effectively not them, however her, actually was attempting to push [Islam] on the children,” a subsequent door neighbor stated, describing Washburn as “very, very f—ing bizarre.”
The neighbor, who declined to offer his title, stated he spoke with Washburn’s husband Adam briefly on Wednesday.
Adam Washburn, who appeared to be residing individually from the household, described his spouse as a “dumb bitch” and stated he wouldn’t assist her with bail, in response to the neighbor.
Washburn allegedly spearheaded the Direct Motion Motion for Palestinian Liberation, an anti-Israel group shaped within the wake of Oct. 7 that encourages sabotage and property destruction, in response to prosecutors within the Western District of New York.
She is believed to have helped funnel $30,000 in cryptocurrency — by means of 80 separate transfers — to a terrorist within the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, as soon as telling him “I want every single day have been October 7.”
Previous media images present her as a modest center class mmother of two youngsters, smiling together with her husband.
Nevertheless, her social media accounts at the moment are crammed with pics of her sporting a hijab and anti-Israel diatribes — together with one publish exhibiting the house addresses of so-called “Zionists.”
It’s unclear precisely when she turned radicalized.
In her messages with the PIJ fighter, Washburn allegedly stated, “If I lived in Gaza, I might struggle alongside the resistance.”
She additionally stated she hated Jews “very a lot” and wished Israel “would disappear,” the feds claimed.
Washburn took a selfie of herself and positioned the picture subsequent to the Hamas flag and two hand grenades, in response to prosecutors.
However she additionally appeared to foretell her downfall in a November 2025 message, commenting that she would face onerous time for her involvement with the anti-Israel group.
“Primarily based on my handed [sic] fundraising and posting Im [sic] gonna get put away for a number of life instances,” she wrote including a laughing emoji, in response to prosecutors.
She is charged with one depend of trying to supply materials help and sources to a chosen overseas terrorist group. She faces as much as 20 years behind bars if convicted.
Washburn appeared in federal court docket in Buffalo on Wednesday the place she was held with out bail.
Washburn’s lawyer didn’t return The Submit’s request for remark.
