US soldier pleads guilty to attempting to help Islamic State group
A US soldier pleaded guilty on Wednesday to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State (IS) militant group and attempting to murder US military service members in the Middle East.
Cole Bridges, aka Cole Gonzales, 22, of Stow, Ohio, joined the US Army in approximately September 2019 and was assigned as a cavalry scout in the Third Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.
The same year, investigators say he began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting militants and their violent ideology while expressing support for IS on social media.
Bridges soon "provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City," prosecutors said. He even diagrammed specific military manoeuvers he said could help IS kill more US troops.
Bridges was unaware he was actually sharing information with an FBI agent posing as an IS supporter. In January 2021, he provided the agent with a video of himself in his US Army body armour, standing in front of a flag often used by IS fighters and making a gesture symbolic of support for the group. He was arrested the same month.
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It is unclear through publicly available material whether Bridges ever made contact with any real IS fighters.
Attempting to provide material support to IS carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and attempting to murder US military personnel carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
"As he admitted in court today, Cole Bridges attempted to orchestrate a murderous ambush on his fellow soldiers in service of ISIS and its violent ideology," US attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York said in a statement.
"Bridges's traitorous conduct was a betrayal of his comrades and his country. Thanks to the incredible work of the prosecutors of this office and our partners at the FBI and the US Army, Bridges's malign intent was revealed, and he now awaits sentencing for his crimes."
Bridges is scheduled to be sentenced on 2 November.
At its peak, IS held about a third of Syria and 40 percent of Iraq.
In 2015, US troops arrived in Syria. Working alongside their Kurdish and Iraqi allies as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, they pushed back the group. IS was territorially defeated in 2019. Remnants of the group mostly retreated into desert hideouts in Syria’s east, and are periodically targeted by US raids and strikes.
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