A U.S. Army soldier was arrested on Tuesday after authorities said he tried to conspire with terrorists and spoke of a plot to destroy the 9/11 Memorial in New York City.
Cole Bridges, 20, allegedly communicated with an FBI agent he thought was an Islamic State militant and divulged tactics and manuals to kill U.S. soldiers, according to the Associated Press. Bridges gave advice on how best to attack the 9/11 monument, authorities 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,” the head of New York City’s FBI office, William Sweeney Jr., said. “Fortunately, the person with whom he communicated was an FBI employee, and we were able to prevent his evil desires from coming to fruition.”
Bridges, who joined the U.S. Army in 2019 as a cavalry scout, allegedly expressed support for terrorists, posted videos of himself standing in front of an ISIS flag, and told the FBI agent how to rig buildings with explosives to kill troops.
He was booked into jail in Georgia for alleged attempted material support of a terrorist organization and attempted murder of a military member.
