N.C. teen charged in alleged Houston synagogue plot was playing online 'fantasy game,' parents say
HOUSTON — The parents of an 18-year-old Lexington, North Carolina, woman charged in connection with an alleged plot to attack a Houston synagoguesay their daughter had no means or intention to carry out any attack, describing the online activity that led to her arrest as nothing more than fantasy role-play.
Angelina Han Hicks was arrested on Wednesday by the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and faces two felony conspiracy counts after investigators alleged she and co-conspirators planned a mass-casualty attack at Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Houston. A juvenile was separately charged in Harris County, Texas.
Her father, Dannie Hicks, speaking in an interview recorded shortly after the arrest to KHOU 11 News sister station WFMY, pushed back on the allegations.
"It's ludicrous. It's a fantasy game. And that's the way she looked at it as a fantasy game online," Dannie Hicks said.
He questioned how his daughter could have carried out any real-world attack.
"It wasn't no dagone terror attacks. How in the world would you pull something like that off? She don't drive. She ain't got a car. She don't have guns. She don't know how to use a gun. She never shot a gun. How's she gonna get to Texas? It's nuts what they've done to her," Dannie Hicks said.
Hicks' father said the charges have upended the family. He and her mother are older, he said, and deal with medical issues. Hicks had been living with them and, by their account, rarely left home on her own.(there seems to be imbalance with her activities)
"She never left us more than a day or two at a time, and that was with adults, not no teenagers," her mother said.
The family described Hicks as a well-liked, trouble-free teenager who was weeks away from graduating from Valley Regional Academy and was enrolled in a dual-enrollment program at a local community college.
"She was supposed to graduate in two weeks," her father said.
Her parents also raised concerns about the conditions of her detention. Hicks is being held at the Davidson County Detention Center, where bond was set at $10 million secured.
Her father described a recent phone call with her.
"She told us, fearing for her safety. In the situation she's in, they won't let us bring her any clothes. She don't have socks. She don't have underwear. She wears the same jumpsuit, and they don't wash them," Dannie Hicks said.
He said she is being held in a cell with minimal bedding.
"She's in a cell with no blanket, no pillow, a towel for a blanket, and no pillow, and a thin mattress.I didn't know it was that bad. I had no idea," Dannie Hicks said.
Her father also noted thatHicks takes high-powered medicationand suggested that could be a factor in whatever she may have said or done online. He said the family is not tech-savvy and had no insight into the gaming platforms she used.
"She loves playing these fantasy video games on Roblox. That's what started her out with," he said, adding, "We're not up on the technology of these computers and gaming platforms and all that. We don't know nothing about them."
The FBI Charlotte Joint Terrorism Task Force opened its investigation Tuesday after a tip came in to a North Carolina law enforcement agency. Agents and Davidson County detectives went to the family's Lexington home, where investigators say they found evidence of the alleged plot.
Hicks is scheduled to appear in Davidson County District Court on May 13. The Davidson County Sheriff's Office has noted that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The joint FBI investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective H. Hall at 336-242-2105.
https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/nc-teen-charged-houston-synagogue-plot-fantasy-game-parents-say/285-8ba8a23b-ac18-4721-938d-c840e31f65b9
(The drug she was taken, prescribed by psychiatrist caused this, probably)