Fourteen years in prison for US soldier who sought to aid IS

On Friday, a US soldier who had entered a guilty plea to trying to give intelligence to the Islamic State organisation so that it could attack US forces in the Middle East was given a 14-year prison sentence.

In June of last year, Cole Bridges, 24, entered a guilty plea to charges of trying to kill US military personnel and giving material support to a foreign terrorist organisation that has been designated as such.

The Justice Department released a statement on Friday, announcing that Bridges, an Ohio private first class, had been sentenced to 10 years of supervised release and 14 years in jail.

Bridges, who enlisted in the army in 2019, allegedly switched from ingesting online jihadist propaganda to attempting to provide information to support IS, which formerly controlled large portions of Syria and Iraq.

According to the Justice Department, Bridges started corresponding with an FBI agent who was pretending to be an IS supporter in October 2020.

“During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the US military and his desire to aid IS,” according to the department.

According to the report, Bridges sent “training and guidance” to alleged IS combatants, including suggestions about possible targets in New York City and details on “how to attack US forces in the Middle East.”

Based at Fort Stewart in Georgia, Bridges uploaded a video of himself in body armour, standing in front of an IS fighter flag, to the undercover FBI agent in January 2021.