(Facebook)
Triana Lynn Mansfield — an 18-year-old from Flint, Michigan — has been revealed as the daughter of Nicole Lynn Mansfield, the American citizen killed by President al-Assad’s government forces in the war-torn area of Idleb, Syria.
According to the New York Daily News, the teenager has come out to her mother’s defense — denying ties to terrorism calling her a “regular American woman who was misguided by the people with bad intentions.” Nicole Lynn Mansfield’s death is still shrouded in mystery as it is unknown why or when the 33-year-old mother traveled to war-torn Syria.
Nicole’s ID was found on her body by Syrian government forces.
The family reportedly identified Nicole Mansfield from pictures circulating on the Internet that were taken by a Syrian News Station. “I didn’t even recognize her,” said Triana Jones in an interview with CNN. “I looked at her body and her feet and her hands and her nose and her mouth and I knew it was her.”
Nicole Mansfield reportedly converted to Islam three years ago — a fact her father, Gregory Mansfield, reportedly told the FBI.
When asked about what her mother was doing in Syria, Triana said her mother was involved in a project that “helped Syrians by talking to people online.” Triana also added that her mother told her she would not be involved in any fighting. While Nicole Mansfield was in Syria, Triana and her mother had apparently been keeping in touch by talking on the phone. During a conversation about a month ago, Triana said her mother told her she planned to be home within a week but during their next talk a week later she told her daughter that her ID had been stolen and that show as not able to return.
“That’s the last time I talked to her,” said Jones, who added she planned to give her mother an Islamic burial. “She told me that’s how she would have wanted it.”
Triana has commented on Heavy’s YouTube video covering this story responding to YouTube users who were claiming Mansfield was a “CIA agent” or a “terrorist”:
One of the videos on Triana’s YouTube page, is of anti-Israel protest in downtown Flint. Nicole Lynn Mansfield makes an appearance in the video screaming, “free free Palestine.” This is the only video footage of Nicole we have been able to recover. Watch the video below:
Syrian state-run television has reported that American citizen Nicole Lynn Mansfield — identified by her Michigan driver’s license and passport — was killed along with two other foreigners including a UK citizen The State Department is investigating the circumstances of her death.
Photo uploaded by Triana the day her mother was reported dead(facebook)