NEW YORK (AP) – A US Army soldier was arrested on terrorism charges in Georgia on Tuesday after speaking online of plots to blow up the New York City 9/11 Memorial and other monuments and US soldiers in the Middle. East, authorities said Tuesday.
Cole James Bridges of Stow, Ohio, was in custody on charges of attempting material support to a terrorist organization – the Islamic State group – and attempted murder of a military member, said Nicholas Biase, a spokesman 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 the Islamic State online about the terrorist plots, Biase said.
Unbeknownst to Bridges, an FBI employee was in the chat when Bridges gave detailed instructions on tactics and manuals and gave advice on how to attack the memorial and other targets in New York City, Biase said.
As we claim today, Bridges, a soldier in the US military, betrayed our country and his unit when he plotted with someone he believes was an ISIS sympathizer to help ISIS attack and kill US soldiers in the Middle East, ”said William F. Sweeney Jr., chief of the FBI office in New York City.
Fortunately, the person he communicated with was an FBI employee and we were able to prevent his evil desires from becoming reality, Sweeney said in a press release.
“Our troops are risking their lives for our country, but they should never face such danger at the hands of their own country,” said US lawyer Audrey Strauss.
Bridges was scheduled to appear in federal court in Augusta, Georgia for the first time on Thursday.
It was not immediately clear who would represent him.
Bridges joined the United States Army in September 2019 and was appointed as a cavalry scout at Fort Stewart, according to an indictment in Manhattan Federal Court.
At one point, he began researching and using online propaganda to promote jihadists and their violent ideology, authorities said.
They said he expressed his support for the Islamic State group and the jihad on social media before he began communicating in October with an FBI employee posing as a supporter of the Islamic State in contact with the group’s fighters in the Middle -East.
According to court documents, he expressed frustration with the US military and his desire to help the Islamic State group.
He then provided training and guidance to alleged IS fighters planning attacks, including advice on possible targets in New York City, including the 9/11 Memorial, according to the indictment.
It said he had also provided parts of a US Army training manual and guidance on military combat tactics.
Bridges also mapped out specific military maneuvers to help the terrorist group’s fighters kill US forces, including how best to fortify an encampment to repel US Special Forces attack and how to deflect certain buildings. wire with explosives to kill US forces, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, this month Bridges sent a video of herself in body armor standing in front of the Islamic State flag and gesturing for support.
A week later, Bridges sent in a second video using a voice manipulator and narrating a propaganda speech in support of the expected ambush of US forces by the IS group, the complaint said.
Fort Stewart officials did not have an immediate response on Tuesday, said Kevin Larson, a spokesman for the military post.
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Associated Press Writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.