American soldier gets fourteen years in prison for trying to help ISIS

What’s the story

A US Army soldier, Cole Bridges, aka Cole Gonzales, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for helping the Islamic State (ISIS) plan a deadly ambush against US forces.

After his prison sentence, Bridges will also have to serve 10 years of supervised release, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Soldier charged with providing military advice to ISIS

Bridges, who was a top-ranked soldier when he was arrested, was charged in 2021 with providing “military advice and guidance on killing fellow soldiers to individuals he believed were part of ISIS,” according to the Justice Department.

He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023.

Bridges had joined the Army in 2019.

Bridges’ online activities revealed support for ISIS

Before joining the military, Bridges had consumed online propaganda “promoting jihadists and their violent ideology” and expressed support for ISIS and jihad on social media, the Justice Department said.

In October 2020, he began communicating with a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee posing as an IS supporter.

During these conversations, Bridges expressed his dissatisfaction with the US military and his intention to help ISIS.

Bridges provided training and guidance for suspected IS fighters

Bridges provided “training and guidance” to those he believed were ISIS fighters, including advice on potential targets in New York City, and information on “how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East,” the Justice Department said .

In January 2021, while stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia, Bridges sent a video of himself, dressed in body armor, standing in front of an ISIS flag to the undercover FBI employee.