Cole Bridges pleaded guilty to terrorism charges last year after communicating online with an undercover FBI employee

A US soldier was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison for attempting to help the Islamic State murder troops.

The sentencing of Cole Bridges, 24, came after his 14 June 2023 guilty plea to terrorism charges.

Bridges joined the army some five years ago, and was assigned as a cavalry scout in the third infantry division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Before Bridges became a soldier, however, he started researching and consuming pro-terrorist propaganda – and voiced his support for IS and jihad on social media, Manhattan federal prosecutors said.

Around October 2020, Bridges started communicating online with someone whom he believed was an IS supporter. This person was actually an FBI undercover employee, authorities said.

Bridges told the covert operative that he was frustrated with the US armed forces and wanted to help IS. He then gave “training and guidance to purported Isis fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City”, according to a press release on his sentencing.

Bridges also gave parts of a US army training manual, as well as information on combat techniques, to the undercover employee. He did so “with the understanding that the materials would be used by Isis in future attack planning”.