Free Republic

There wasn’t any reason to think Cole James Bridges was anything more than an average young American. After he graduated from high school, he worked at a Papa John’s pizza shop in Stow, Ohio, for a while, and then, in Sept. 2019, joined the U.S. Army. He got sent to Fort Stewart in Georgia, where he became a cavalry scout. Thousands of young Americans have followed paths similar to the one Bridges embarked upon, but then he took a sharp turn no one expected: on Wednesday, Cole James Bridges pleaded guilty to trying to aid ISIS’ efforts to kill American...

A Northeast Ohio native pleaded guilty to terrorism charges after investigators say he tried to help terrorists ambush and kill U.S. troops overseas. Cole Bridges, 22, of Stow, pleaded guilty to trying to offer material support to the Islamic State group and trying to murder U.S. soldiers. Bridges faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the two charges he admitted to. He will be sentenced on Nov. 2. According to court records, Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, joined the U.S. Army around September 2019. In the same year, court documents say he started researching online propaganda...

Provided Tactical Guidance in Attempt to Help ISIS to Attack U.S. Forces in the Middle EastThe Justice Department, along with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and U.S. Army Counterintelligence, announced today the arrest of a private first class in the U.S. Army, on federal terrorism charges based on Bridges’ alleged efforts to assist ISIS to attack and kill U.S. soldiers in the Middle East.Cole James Bridges, aka Cole Gonzales, 20, of Stowe, Ohio, was charged by complaint with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder U.S. military service members. The...

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.