Army soldier pleads guilty to attempts to help ISIS conduct ambush on U.S. troops

A U.S. Army soldier has pleaded guilty to attempting to provide information that could be used to ambush U.S. troops after communicating for months with an FBI employee posing as an ISIS supporter.

Cole Bridges, aka Cole Gonzales, 22, of Stow, Ohio, pleaded guilty Wednesday 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.

According to court documents, Bridges joined the U.S. Army in September 2019 and was assigned as a cavalry scout in the third infantry division in Fort Stewart, Ga.

Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology around the same time. Bridges also expressed his support for ISIS and jihad on social media.

In October 2020, Bridges began communicating with an FBI online covert employee who was posing as an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the U.S. military and his desire to aid ISIS. Bridges provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City.

Bridges also provided portions of a U.S. Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics for use by ISIS.

In December 2020, Bridges began to supply instructions for the purported ISIS fighters on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East. Among other things, 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.

In January 2021, Bridges provided 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 one 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.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Bridges is scheduled to be sentenced November 2.