US soldier arrested on charges of attempting to assist ISIS

A US Army soldier was arrested Tuesday in Georgia on terrorism charges after he spoke online about plots to blow up New York City’s 9/11 Memorial and other landmarks and attack US soldiers in the Middle East, authorities said.

Cole James Bridges of Stow, Ohio, was in custody on charges of attempted material support of a terrorist organisation – the ISIS group – and attempted murder of a military member, said Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for Manhattan federal prosecutors.

The 20-year-old soldier, also known as Cole Gonzales, was with the Third Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, when he thought he was communicating with ISIS online about the terrorism plots, Mr Biase said.

Unbeknown to Bridges, an FBI employee was in on the chat as Bridges provided detailed instructions on tactics and manuals and advice about attacking the memorial and other targets in New York City, Mr Biase said.

“As we allege today, Bridges, a private in the US Army, betrayed our country and his unit when he plotted with someone he believed was an ISIS sympathiser to help ISIS attack and kill US soldiers in the Middle East,” said William F. Sweeney Jr., head of New York City’s FBI office.

“Fortunately, the person with whom he communicated was an FBI employee, and we were able to prevent his evil desires from coming to fruition,” Mr Sweeney said in a release.

“Our troops risk their lives for our country, but they should never face such peril at the hands of one of their own,” US Attorney Audrey Strauss said.

Bridges was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Augusta, Georgia, on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear who would represent him.

According to a criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court, Bridges joined the US Army in September 2019 and was assigned as a cavalry scout in Fort Stewart.

At some point, he began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting extremists and their violent ideology, authorities said.

They said he expressed his support for ISIS and extremism on social media before he began communicating in October with an FBI employee who posed as an ISIS supporter in contact with the group’s fighters in the Middle East.

According to court papers, he expressed his frustration with the US military and his desire to assist ISIS.

The criminal complaint said he then provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City, including the 9/11 Memorial.

It said he also provided portions of a US Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics.

Bridges also diagrammed specific military maneuvers to help the terrorist group’s fighters kill US troops, including the best way to fortify an encampment to repel an attack by US Special Forces and how to wire certain buildings with explosives to kill the US troops, the complaint said.

This month, according to the complaint, Bridges sent a video of himself in body armour standing before an ISIS flag, gesturing support.

A week later, Bridges sent a second video in which he used a voice manipulator and narrated a propaganda speech in support of the ISIS group’s anticipated ambush of US troops, the complaint said.

In a statement Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division, Lt. Col. Lindsey Elder, confirmed that Pfc. Cole James Bridges is assigned to the division. She said division commanders are “co-operating fully with the FBI.”

Ms Elder referred further inquiries to the Pentagon.