U.S. Army Pvt. Cole Bridges spent months chatting over the internet with a purported Islamic State supporter, explaining how he thought the extremist group could repel U.S. Special Forces raids, providing military manuals and offering advice on targets in New York City for a potential terrorist attack.
By Jiselle Lee
The 24-year-old soldier had pleaded guilty in June 2023 to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder U.S. service members. His attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday afternoon.
Before joining the Army in 2019, Bridges had already been consuming online propaganda promoting jihadist violence, according to the FBI. Court documents shared screenshots of a Facebook profile under the name “Cole Gonzales,” which the FBI said Bridges used to post quotes attributed to militant jihadists and share extremist images.
About one year after joining the Army, in October 2020, Bridges began communicating over encrypted messages with an FBI agent posing as an Islamic State supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East, according to court records. Bridges used encrypted messages to tell the FBI agent that he was frustrated with the Army and wanted to aid ISIS, the records said.
When the undercover agent told Bridges that there was another ISIS supporter living in New York City who wanted to carry out “an operation,” Bridges warned them to avoid discussing their plot over the phone and offered training advice, according to the criminal complaint.
“Sadly I can’t participate,” Bridges wrote on the encrypted messaging platform, according to the complaint. “But the only involvement I can do is advice and training techniques … your brother can feel free to contact me anytime.”
Over their conversations, Bridges explained that he agreed with ISIS’s mission to establish a global caliphate, but he thought they killed too many innocent people and disagreed with their suicide bombing tactics, the complaint said.
Bridges sent videos, a U.S. Army training manual and guidance on tactics that he believed would help the purported ISIS supporter stage an attack, the complaint said. Bridges also offered advice on potential targets in New York City, warning against striking heavily guarded government buildings and suggesting instead an attack on the 9/11 memorial, according to the complaint.
In December 2021, Bridges sent diagrams of tactical maneuvers to the undercover agent that Bridges thought could help them attack U.S. troops in the Middle East, the complaint said. He also gave advice on fortifying ISIS encampments with explosives to repel U.S. raids, the complaint added.
Bridges later filmed himself in January 2021, face covered by a mask and wearing 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 that the undercover agent had provided to him and claimed would be used in a video highlighting attacks on U.S. forces, according to the court records.
That same month, FBI agents arrested Bridges at Fort Stewart.
At sentencing, Bridges asked for the maximum 40-year prison term, telling Judge Lewis J. Liman that he knew what he did was wrong and will carry “regret for as long as I live,” the Associated Press reported. Liman decided against the maximum punishment, noting Bridges never actually spoke to an ISIS member and showed signs of regret after being apprehended.
In addition to his 14-year prison term, Bridges will serve 10 years of supervised release, according to the Justice Department.
“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,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement.
