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 instructed The Publish.
Catherine Beth Washburn — a 37-year-old mother of two from Irondequoit — who allegedly led a home-grown anti-Israel extremist group, started carrying Muslim garb shortly after the Hamas assault on Israel in 2023, based on 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 mentioned.
Washburn wasn’t carrying the outfit when Glover moved into the quaint neighborhood outdoors Rochester round 5 years in the past, she mentioned — however after the beginning of the conflict in Gaza “she simply turned extra Muslim.”
A tattered Palestinian flag remained on the ranch-style residence Thursday when The Publish visited — three months after neighbors reported seeing a SWAT group break down the door and raid the home.
“I’ve a sense they have been making an attempt to push, properly not them, however her, actually was making an attempt to push [Islam] on the children,” a subsequent door neighbor mentioned, describing Washburn as “very, very f—ing bizarre.”
The neighbor, who declined to offer his title, mentioned he spoke with Washburn’s husband Adam briefly on Wednesday.
Adam Washburn, who gave the impression to be residing individually from the household, described his spouse as a “dumb bitch” and mentioned he wouldn’t assist her with bail, based on the neighbor.
Washburn allegedly spearheaded the Direct Motion Motion for Palestinian Liberation, an anti-Israel group fashioned within the wake of Oct. 7 that encourages sabotage and property destruction, based on prosecutors within the Western District of New York.
She is believed to have helped funnel $30,000 in cryptocurrency — by 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 photographs present her as a modest center class mmother of two kids, smiling along with her husband.
Nonetheless, her social media accounts are actually crammed with pics of her carrying a hijab and anti-Israel diatribes — together with one put up displaying the house addresses of so-called “Zionists.”
It’s unclear precisely when she turned radicalized.
In her messages with the PIJ fighter, Washburn allegedly mentioned, “If I lived in Gaza, I might struggle alongside the resistance.”
She additionally mentioned 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, based on prosecutors.
However she additionally appeared to foretell her downfall in a November 2025 message, commenting that she would face arduous 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 just a few life instances,” she wrote including a laughing emoji, based on prosecutors.
She is charged with one rely of trying to supply materials help and sources to a delegated international terrorist group. She faces as much as 20 years behind bars if convicted.
Washburn appeared in federal courtroom in Buffalo on Wednesday the place she was held with out bail.
Washburn’s lawyer didn’t return The Publish’s request for remark.
