US soldier sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempting to assist Islamic State

A U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempting to help the Islamic State conduct a deadly ambush of U.S. troops, the Department of Justice said on Friday.

Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, 24, will undergo supervised release for 10 years following his release from prison, the department said.

Bridges, who was a private first class at the time of his arrest, was charged in 2021 with giving "military advice and guidance on how to kill fellow soldiers to individuals he thought were part of ISIS." He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023.

Before joining the Army in 2019, Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda "promoting jihadists and their violent ideology, and began to express his support for ISIS and jihad on social media."

According to prosecutors, Bridges provided parts of a U.S. Army training manual and information on combat techniques to an undercover employee, understanding that these materials would be used by ISIS in future attack planning, The Guardian reported.

In December 2020, he began instructing the covert operative on how purported IS militants could target U.S. forces in the Middle East. He also shared guidance on protecting an IS stronghold and planning attacks against U.S. special forces, including strategies for wiring buildings with explosives to kill troops.

In early 2021, Bridges sent a video of himself wearing military body armor, standing in front of a flag often used by ISIS fighters while making a gesture symbolic of support for the group. About a week later, he sent another video in which he used a voice manipulator to deliver a propaganda speech supporting an expected IS attack against U.S. servicemen.

“Cole Bridges used his U.S. Army training to pursue a horrifying goal: the brutal murder of his fellow service members in a carefully plotted ambush,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a press release.

“Bridges sought to attack the very soldiers he was entrusted to protect and, making this abhorrent conduct even more troubling, was eager to help people he believed were members of a deadly foreign terrorist organization plan this attack. This is a betrayal of the worst order.”