Cole Bridges: Ohio Army Soldier Accused of Trying to Help ISIS

Cole Bridges is a soldier in the U.S. Army from Ohio who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges for “attempting to help ISIS conduct deadly ambush on U.S. troops,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“An Ohio man today pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder U.S. military service members based on his efforts to help the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) to attack and kill U.S. soldiers in the Middle East,” the press release said.

Fox7Austin reported that Bridges has been incarcerated since 2021.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As he admitted in court today, Cole Bridges attempted to orchestrate a murderous ambush on his fellow soldiers in service of ISIS and its violent ideology. Bridges’s 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.”

Here’s what you need to know:

Cole Bridges Was a Cavalry Scout in the U.S. Army When He Began ‘Consuming Online Propaganda Promoting Jihadists,’ the DOJ Says

The government described the defendant as “Cole Bridges, aka Cole Gonzales, 22, of Stow,” writing that he “pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman.”

According to court documents, the release says, “Bridges joined the U.S. Army in approximately September 2019 and was assigned as a cavalry scout in the Third Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.”

The release adds: “Beginning in at least 2019, Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology. Bridges also expressed his support for ISIS and jihad on social media.”

The Government Accused Cole Bridges of Diagramming ‘Specific Military Maneuvers’ to Help ISIS Fighters Kill More U.S. Soldiers

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,” the DOJ release says.

During these communications, Bridges “expressed his frustration with the U.S. military and his desire to aid ISIS. Bridges then provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City. Bridges also provided the OCE with portions of a U.S. Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics, for use by ISIS,” the release says.

In or about December 2020, Bridges “began to supply the OCE with instructions for the purported ISIS fighters on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East,” the release says.

It says that Bridges “diagrammed specific military maneuvers intended to help ISIS fighters maximize the lethality of attacks on U.S. troops. Bridges further provided advice about the best way to fortify an ISIS encampment to repel an attack by U.S. Special Forces, including by wiring certain buildings with explosives to kill the U.S. troops.”

Cole Bridges Is Accused of Appearing in a Video Wearing U.S. Body Armor & Standing in Front of an ISIS Flag

In 2021, the government says, Bridges presented the OCE “with a video of himself in his U.S. Army body armor standing in front of a flag often used by ISIS fighters and making a gesture symbolic of support for ISIS. Approximately a week later, Bridges sent a second video in which Bridges, using a voice manipulator, narrated a propaganda speech in support of the anticipated ambush by ISIS on U.S. troops.”

The government says Bridges will be sentenced on November 2, and he faces 40 years in prison.

“The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which primarily consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the New York City Police Department, and over 50 other federal, state and local agencies, is investigating the case,” the release says.

“The U.S. Army Counterintelligence, the FBI Washington Field Office, the FBI Atlanta Field Office and its Savannah Resident Agency, the FBI Cleveland Field Office, the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and the U.S. Army Third Infantry Division provided valuable assistance.”

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