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Soldier pleads guilty to terrorism, wanted ISIS to use “house bombs”
A former US Army soldier plead guilty to charges of terrorism, attempting to murder US service members in the Middle East, and providing material support to ISIS and al-Sham.
According to court documents Cole Bridges, 22, enlisted at the end of 2019 and was stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. There, Bridges researched and consumed jihadists propaganda and even took to social media where he declared his support for the ISIS jihad and terrorism.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: U.S. Army soldier Cole Bridges admits to plotting with ISIS to kill his fellow troops in the Middle East. He faces up to 40 years in prison for his crimes <a href="https://t.co/XY9QQu4cVr">pic.twitter.com/XY9QQu4cVr</a></p>— Daily Turkic (@DailyTurkic) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyTurkic/status/1669053373327241216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Dealing in Terrorism
Towards the end of 2020, Bridges began corresponding with whom he thought was a fellow ISIS sympathizer but was in fact an online covert employee (OCE) for the FBI. Bridges confided in the FBI OCE that he was frustrated with the military and wanted to assist ISIS in their jihad.
The saboteur then went on to provided subject matter expertise to purported ISIS fighters including guidance on New York City targets, and Army training manuals on combat tactics to maximize US casualties in said planned attack.
Bridges also advised on how to properly fortify ISIS fighting positions so to better repel attacks by US Special Forces. He cited utilizing ISIS structures as house-borne improvised explosive devices (HBIEDs) by rigging the house to explode when entered by US troops.
In January of 2021, Bridges sent the FBI’s OCE a video of himself in his uniform and body armor positioned in front of an ISIS flag. The following week, Bridges sent the OCE another video, this time reading a speech declaring his support for a planned ISIS ambush of US troops. In this video, Bridges used a voice manipulator.
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Bridges is currently facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for “attempting to provide material support to ISIS” and another maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for “attempting to murder U.S. military service members”.
Bridges sentencing is scheduled to take place on November 2nd of this year.
