Former US soldier sentenced to 14 years for trying to help ISIS

Before joining the military in 2019, Bridges had already consumed online propaganda promoting jihadist violence, according to the FBI. Court documents shared screenshots of a Facebook profile under the name “Cole Gonzales,” the FBI said Bridges posted quotes attributed to militant jihadists and shared extremist images.

About a year after joining the military, in October 2020, Bridges began communicating via coded messages with an FBI agent posing as an ISIS supporter who was in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East, according to court records. Bridges used coded messages to tell the FBI agent that he was frustrated with the military and wanted to help ISIS, the records say.

When the undercover agent told Bridges that there was another ISIS supporter living in New York City who wanted to conduct “an operation,” Bridges warned them not to discuss their plot over the phone and offered training advice, according to the indictment.

“Unfortunately, I cannot participate,” Bridges wrote on the encrypted messaging platform, according to the complaint. “But all I can do is advice and training techniques… your brother is welcome to contact me at any time.”

During their conversations, Bridges explained that he agreed with ISIS’s mission to establish a global caliphate, but felt they had killed too many innocent people and that he disagreed with their suicide bombing tactics, according to the complaint.

Bridges sent videos, a U.S. military training manual and guidelines on tactics he believed would help the alleged ISIS supporter carry out an attack, the complaint said. Bridges also provided advice on possible targets in New York City, warning against attacking heavily guarded government buildings and suggesting an attack on the 9/11 Memorial instead, the complaint said.

In December 2021, Bridges sent diagrams of tactical maneuvers to the undercover agent that Bridges believed could help them attack U.S. forces in the Middle East, the complaint said. He also provided advice on fortifying ISIS camps with explosives to ward off U.S. incursions, the complaint added.

Bridges later filmed himself in January 2021, with his face covered by a mask and body armor, standing in front of an ISIS flag and gesturing his support for the group, according to court records. Bridges also sent a recording in which he narrated an ISIS propaganda script the undercover agent had provided him and claimed it would be used in a video highlighting attacks on U.S. troops, according to court records.

That same month, FBI agents arrested Bridges at Fort Stewart.

At sentencing, Bridges asked for the maximum prison sentence of 40 years, telling Judge Lewis J. Liman that he knew what he did was wrong and that he “will be sorry as long as I live,” the Associated Press reported. Liman decided against the maximum sentence, noting that Bridges never actually spoke to an ISIS member and showed signs of remorse after being apprehended.

In addition to his 14-year prison sentence, Bridges will serve 10 years of supervised release, according to the Justice Department.

“Bridges sought to attack the very soldiers he was supposed to protect and, making this abhorrent behavior even more disturbing, he was eager to help people he believed were members of a deadly foreign terrorist organization in planning this attack,” said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Washington. Damian Williams from New York said in a statement.