Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
US Soldier Arrested in Plot to Blow up NYC 9/11 Memorial
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
January 19, 2021

Share

NEW YORK — A U.S. Army soldier was arrested Tuesday in Georgia on terrorism charges after he spoke online about plots to blow up New York City’s 9/11 Memorial and other landmarks and attack U.S. soldiers in the Middle East, authorities said Tuesday.

Cole James Bridges of Stow, Ohio, was in custody on charges of attempted material support of a terrorist organization — the Islamic State group — and attempted murder of a military member, said Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for Manhattan federal prosecutors.

The 20-year-old soldier, also known as Cole Gonzales, was with the Third Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, when he thought he was communicating with the Islamic State online about the terrorism plots, Biase said.

Unbeknownst to Bridges, an FBI employee was in on the chat as Bridges provided detailed instructions on tactics and manuals and advice about attacking the memorial and other targets in New York City, Biase said.

“As we allege today, Bridges, a private in the U.S. Army, betrayed our country and his unit when he plotted with someone he believed was an ISIS sympathizer to help ISIS attack and kill U.S. soldiers in the Middle East,” said William F. Sweeney Jr., head of New York City’s FBI office.

“Fortunately, the person with whom he communicated was an FBI employee, and we were able to prevent his evil desires from coming to fruition,” Sweeney said in a release.

“Our troops risk their lives for our country, but they should never face such peril at the hands of one of their own,” U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said.

Bridges was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Augusta, Georgia, on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear who would represent him.

He Expressed His Frustration With the U.S. Military and His Desire to Aid the Islamic State Group

According to a criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court, Bridges joined the U.S. Army in September 2019 and was assigned as a cavalry scout in Fort Stewart.

At some point, he began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology, authorities said.

They said he expressed his support for the Islamic State group and jihad on social media before he began communicating in October with an FBI employee who posed as an Islamic State group supporter in contact with the group’s fighters in the Middle East.

According to court papers, he expressed his frustration with the U.S. military and his desire to aid the Islamic State group.

The criminal complaint said he then provided training and guidance to purported Islamic State fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City, including the 9/11 Memorial.

It said he also provided portions of a U.S. Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics.

Bridges also diagrammed specific military maneuvers to help the terrorist group’s fighters kill U.S. troops, including the best way to fortify an encampment to repel an attack by U.S. Special Forces and how to wire certain buildings with explosives to kill the U.S. troops, the complaint said.

This month, according to the complaint, Bridges sent a video of himself in body armor standing before an Islamic State flag, gesturing support.

A week later, Bridges sent a second video in which he used a voice manipulator and narrated a propaganda speech in support of the Islamic State group’s anticipated ambush of U.S. troops, the complaint said.

Fort Stewart officials had no immediate comment Tuesday, said Kevin Larson, a spokesperson for the Army post.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded

DON'T MISS

Look Past Elon Musk’s Chaos. There’s Something More Sinister at Work.

DON'T MISS

Navy Crew Members Eject From Their Jet Before It Crashes off the San Diego Coast

DON'T MISS

Kellen Moore Exits Eagles to Become Saints Head Coach

DON'T MISS

The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024

DON'T MISS

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

DON'T MISS

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

DON'T MISS

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

DON'T MISS

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

DON'T MISS

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

UP NEXT

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

UP NEXT

Apple Changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps

UP NEXT

Red, White, and Blueland? GOP Congressman Proposes Bill to Rename Greenland

UP NEXT

White House Bars AP Reporter From Oval Office Because of AP Style Policy on ‘Gulf of America’

UP NEXT

Russia Has Released Detained American Teacher Marc Fogel, the White House Says

UP NEXT

Canned Tuna Sold at Trader Joe’s, Costco, H-E-B Recalled for Botulism Risk

UP NEXT

Fact Check: No Evidence Chelsea Clinton Took $84 Million From USAID

UP NEXT

Private Jets Collide at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona, Killing at Least 1 Person, Authorities Say

UP NEXT

Farmers Caught in Limbo as Trump’s USDA Suspends Program Funding

UP NEXT

53% Approve of Trump’s Job Performance Amid Economic Concerns

Kellen Moore Exits Eagles to Become Saints Head Coach

40 minutes ago

The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024

2 hours ago

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

2 hours ago

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

2 hours ago

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

2 hours ago

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

2 hours ago

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

2 hours ago

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

3 hours ago

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

4 hours ago

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

5 hours ago

USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded

WASHINGTON — A lieutenant of Trump ally Elon Musk and other outsiders are overseeing the immediate termination of hundreds of American aid a...

12 minutes ago

Priya Kathpal, right, and Taylor Williamson, left, who work for a company doing contract work for the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, carry signs outside the USAID headquarters in Washington, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
12 minutes ago

USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded

Elon Musk
14 minutes ago

Look Past Elon Musk’s Chaos. There’s Something More Sinister at Work.

U.S. Navy boats work along the shore near Shelter Island after a U.S. Navy plane crashed into the San Diego Bay, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in San Diego. (AP/Denis Poroy)
20 minutes ago

Navy Crew Members Eject From Their Jet Before It Crashes off the San Diego Coast

Kellen Moore
40 minutes ago

Kellen Moore Exits Eagles to Become Saints Head Coach

2 hours ago

The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024

A CHP K-9 seized 50 pounds of illicit mushrooms worth $80,000 during a traffic stop on I-5 in Fresno County, leading to the arrest of Phillip Yoon, 35, of Hayward. (CHP)
2 hours ago

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

2 hours ago

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

2 hours ago

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend