US soldier pleads guilty to trying to aid Daesh in targeting US troops in Middle East

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Army soldier Cole Bridges pleaded guilty Wednesday to terrorism charges for his role in attempting to aid the Daesh/ISIS terror group in carrying out a lethal ambush on American troops.

Bridges, 22, from the state of Ohio, faces 40 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to the terror group and attempting to murder US military service members.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 2.

The Justice Department said beginning in at least 2019, Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting members of the terror group and their violent ideology.

"Bridges also expressed his support for ISIS and jihad on social media. In or about October 2020, Bridges began communicating with an FBI online covert employee (the OCE), who was posing as an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the U.S. military and his desire to aid ISIS," it said.

Bridges then provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City, according to the statement.

He joined the army in September 2019 and was assigned as a cavalry scout in the Third Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said Bridges' "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 U.S. Army, Bridges’s malign intent was revealed, and he now awaits sentencing for his crimes," added Williams.