US soldier receives 14-year sentence for trying to help ISIS
A United States Army soldier, Cole Bridges aka Cole Gonzales, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for trying to help the Islamic State (ISIS) plan a deadly ambush on US troops. After his prison term, Bridges will also have to serve a supervised release period of 10 years, the Department of Justice announced on Friday.
Soldier charged for providing military advice to ISIS
Bridges, who was a private first class when he was arrested, was charged in 2021 for giving "military advice and guidance on how to kill fellow soldiers to individuals he thought were part of ISIS," the Department of Justice said. He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023. Bridges had joined the Army in 2019.
Bridges's online activities revealed support for ISIS
Before joining the Army, Bridges had been consuming online propaganda "promoting jihadists and their violent ideology," and expressed his support for ISIS and jihad on social media, as per the Department of Justice. In October 2020, he began communicating with a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee posing as an IS supporter. During these exchanges, Bridges voiced his dissatisfaction with the US military and his intention to assist IS.
Bridges provided training and guidance to purported IS fighters
Bridges provided "training and guidance" to those he believed were IS fighters, including advice on potential targets in New York City, and information on "how to attack US forces in the Middle East," according to the Department of Justice. In January 2021, while based at Fort Stewart in Georgia, Bridges sent a video of himself clad in body armor standing before an IS flag to the undercover FBI employee.
