A US soldier has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for trying to support an ISIS attack that killed US soldiers in the Middle East.
Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzalez, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in 2023. His prison sentence will be followed by 10 years of supervised release, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Released on Friday.
Bridges joined the U.S. Army in 2019. Before joining the military, he consumed content promoting and expressing support for jihadists and “their violent ideology,” the Justice Department said.
According to the Justice Department, Bridges began corresponding with FBI agents in the fall of 2020, posing as a contact with ISIS. Mr. Bridges began expressing a desire to support the terrorist organization, providing guidance to ISIS fighters planning attacks.
According to the statement, Bridges sent the undercover agents portions of a U.S. Army training manual and, around December 2020, gave them individual instructions on how to fight U.S. forces in the area.
“Bridges also provided OCE with portions of the U.S. military training manual and guidance on military combat tactics, with the understanding that ISIS would use them in planning future attacks,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
In January 2021, Bridges sent a video of himself posing in military uniform in front of a flag commonly used by ISIS members and making gestures in support of the terrorist organization, according to the Justice Department. He also sent a video of himself narrating a propaganda speech supporting ambush attacks on U.S. troops.
FBI offices in Washington, Atlanta, and Cleveland worked with the U.S. Army Counterintelligence, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division to investigate this case. investigated.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg and Matthew Hellman of the Southern District of New York prosecuted the case. Barrister Michael Dito of the National Security Agency's Counterterrorism Division also assisted.
