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Army soldier sentenced to 14 years for ISIS plot to kill US forces, after requesting he serve 40 years

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Army soldier sentenced to 14 years for ISIS plot to kill US forces, after requesting he serve 40 years

A U.S. Army soldier has been sentenced to 14 years in prison having pleaded guilty to attempting to assist the Islamic State terror group on how to ambush his fellow soldiers in the Middle East during conversations in which he believed he was speaking with a terrorist.

Cole Bridges, 24, of Stow, Ohio, was handed down the sentence after a nearly five-hour Manhattan federal court proceeding in which he surprisingly requested he be given a maximum 40-year sentence. Bridges pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023. 

“Honestly, I do believe that I deserve the maximum sentence,” Bridges told Judge Lewis J. Liman. “I know what I did was wrong,” he said, adding he would carry “regret for as long as I live.”

US, IRAQ TEAM UP TO KILL 15 ISIS OPERATIVES IN EARLY MORNING RAID, US MILITARY SAYS

Cole Bridges, 22, admitted to trying to help ISIS ambush his fellow U.S. soldiers in the Middle East, federal prosecutors said. (U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command)

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Liman cited numerous facts that he said demonstrated Bridges was “not a hardened criminal” and said he had no actual communications with the Islamic State organization.

Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, was assigned to the Third Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Georgia, as a cavalry scout at the time of the crime, the Justice Department said. He joined the Army in September 2019.

According to court documents, about a year before he joined the Army, Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology, and began to express his support for ISIS and jihad on social media.

About a year into his service, Bridges began communicating with an FBI online covert employee (OCE), who was posing as an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the U.S. military and his desire to aid ISIS, per the court documents. 

Bridges provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City. He also provided the OCE with portions of a U.S. Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics, with the understanding that the materials would be used by ISIS in future attack planning.

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3 YEARS AFTER US WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN, ISRAEL LOOKS TO LESSONS LEARNED FROM WAR ON TERROR

A masked Islamic State soldier poses holding the ISIS flag in 2015.  (History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Bridges also began supplying the OCE with instructions for the purported ISIS fighters on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East, including diagramming military maneuvers intended to help ISIS fighters maximize the lethality of future attacks on U.S. troops. 

He also gave advice about the best way to fortify an ISIS encampment to ambush U.S. Special Forces, including by wiring certain buildings with explosives to kill the U.S. troops. 

In January 2021, Bridges provided the OCE with a video of himself in his U.S. Army body armor standing in front of a flag often used by ISIS fighters and making a gesture symbolic of support for ISIS. 

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Around a week later, Bridges sent a second propaganda video he narrated using a voice manipulator in support of the anticipated ambush by ISIS on U.S. troops.

Judge Liman said the 14-year sentence would deter other members of the armed forces who might want to attack the military. He said Bridges had “shown signs of remorse,” including expressing relief after his arrest that he had been dealing with the FBI rather than terrorists.

Bridges provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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Bridges, the judge added, also had not sought any materials from other soldiers that might be useful to the Islamic State organization. He said the “most chilling evidence” was Bridges’ willingness to provide the undercover agent with advice on how the terrorist group could minimize casualties in an attack.

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His attorney, Sabrina Shroff, asked Friday that he be sentenced to the nearly four years he has already served behind bars and argued for leniency because Bridges was lured into the plot by undercover U.S. law enforcement agents who posed as supporters of the Islamic State group. 

She said Bridges was a vulnerable target who was seeking a sense of community after becoming isolated from his family and suffering from depression.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Northeast

Alleged New Hampshire country club shooter said he was targeting wealthy ‘elites’: report

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Alleged New Hampshire country club shooter said he was targeting wealthy ‘elites’: report

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The New Hampshire man accused of opening fire inside a country club last year, killing one person, reportedly confessed to the shooting, telling investigators he aimed to kill the rich. 

Hunter West Nadeau, 24, told police he carried out the shooting at a steakhouse located at the Sky Meadow Club in Nashua in an effort to retaliate against the rich because “they were not helping the poor,” according to a police affidavit obtained by The Boston Globe. 

The affidavit reportedly pointed to surveillance video showing Nadeau entering the club’s main entrance around 7:17 p.m. Sept. 20, wearing a black hoodie and carrying a green backpack. 

Nadeau then allegedly walked to Prime steakhouse, put on a face mask and brandished a gun, firing five shots at employee Steve Burtman, according to the affidavit.

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Hunter Nadeau, 24, a former employee of the Sky Meadow Club, was charged with second-degree murder in Robert Steven DeCesare’s killing. (New Hampshire Attorney General)

Burtman, who was reportedly stationed at the front desk, was struck in the face, the outlet reported. He survived his injuries. 

Surveillance footage then reportedly shows Nadeau entering the restaurant and firing five more shots toward numerous patrons. 

Nadeau allegedly struck and killed 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare, who was dining with his wife and daughter. A third patron was also injured as he allegedly fired multiple shots toward a group of individuals.

WITNESS SAYS NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNTRY CLUB SHOOTER YELLED ‘FREE PALESTINE’ DURING WEDDING VIOLENCE: AP

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Ambulances are parked outside a hotel acting as a reunification center after a shooting at a country club in Nashua, N.H., Sept. 20, 2025.  (AP Photo/Michael Casey)

Nadeau then “continued to shoot until he was attacked by other patrons in the restaurant, and he retreated back through the doors of the steakhouse,” the affidavit said. 

A witness previously told The Associated Press Nadeau allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” as the chaos was unfolding. 

Police subsequently located Nadeau on the club’s golf course, where he “was bleeding from apparent self-inflicted incised wounds to [his] arms and wrists, and made statements to the effect that he was a ‘bad guy,’” according to the filing. 

He then reportedly took responsibility for the shooting, telling officers about his negative feelings toward the affluent.

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BODYCAM IMAGES SHOW LUIGI MANGIONE’S MCDONALD’S ARREST AS DEFENSE CHALLENGES EVIDENCE COLLECTION

Robert “Rob” DeCesare Jr., 59, was fatally shot during a wedding at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, N.H.  (Charlene DeCesare)

Speaking to authorities from his hospital bed, Nadeau told investigators “he was tired of the ‘elites’ taking all the money,” according to the outlet. 

Nadeau also reportedly told investigators he chose Sky Meadow because he had previously worked there and knew members were affluent.

“He said that he settled on Sky Meadow as a location because he worked there about a year ago as a server and knew that you had to have money to have a membership there,” police said, according to the Globe.

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“He was not targeting a specific person but did not care whether he killed someone or not,” police reportedly added. 

Additionally, Nadeau explained why he targeted a wedding being held at the venue at the time of the shooting, telling police “he did not want to target ‘civilians,’” according to the outlet. 

At the time, the shooting came less than one year after Luigi Mangione allegedly opened fire on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in an apparent assassination in midtown Manhattan. Investigators have pointed to similar ideological motives behind Mangione’s alleged crimes.

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In January, prosecutors filed multiple charges against Nadeau, including first-degree murder and reckless second-degree murder, according to the New Hampshire Department of Justice. 

He is being held without bail as he awaits trial. 

Fox News Digital was unable to locate an attorney representing Nadeau. 

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report. 

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New York

How the Editor in Chief of Marie Claire Gets Styled for a Trip to Italy

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How the Editor in Chief of Marie Claire Gets Styled for a Trip to Italy

Nikki Ogunnaike, the editor in chief of Marie Claire magazine, did not grow up the scion of an Anna Wintour or a Marc Jacobs.

But, she said, “my mom and dad are both very stylish people.”

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They got dressed up to go to church every week in her hometown Springfield, Va. Her mother managed a Staples; her father, a CVS. “Presentation is important to them,” she said.

Since landing her first internship with Glamour magazine in college, Ms. Ogunnaike, 40, has held editorial roles there and at Elle magazine and GQ. She has been in the top post at Marie Claire since 2023.

She recently spent a Saturday with The New York Times as she prepared for Milan Fashion Week.

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Boston, MA

Mass. reports first two measles cases of 2026, including one in Greater Boston

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Mass. reports first two measles cases of 2026, including one in Greater Boston


Health

While infectious, the Boston-area adult visited several locations where others were likely exposed to the virus, according to health officials.

A photo of the measles virus under a microscope. 
Cynthia Goldsmith

Massachusetts health officials have confirmed the state’s first two measles cases of the year, a school-aged child and a Greater Boston adult. 

The Department of Public Health announced the cases Friday, marking the first report of measles in Massachusetts since 2024. 

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According to health officials, the adult who was diagnosed returned home recently from abroad and had an “uncertain vaccination history.” While infectious, the person visited several locations where others were likely exposed to the virus, and health officials said they are working to identify and notify anyone affected

The child, meanwhile, is a Massachusetts resident who was exposed to the virus and diagnosed with measles out-of-state, where they remain during the infectious period. Health officials said the child does not appear to have exposed anyone in Massachusetts to measles. 

The two Massachusetts cases come as the U.S. battles a large national measles outbreak, which has seen 1,136 confirmed cases nationwide so far in 2026, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

“Our first two measles cases in 2026 demonstrate the impact that the measles outbreaks, nationally and internationally, can have here at home,” Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said Friday. “Fortunately, thanks to high vaccination rates, the risk to most Massachusetts residents remains low.” 

Measles is a highly contagious disease that spreads through the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or talks. The virus can linger in the air for up to two hours and may even spread through tissues or cups used by someone who has it, according to the DPH. 

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Early symptoms occur 10 days to two weeks after exposure and may resemble a cold or cough, usually with a fever, health officials warned. A rash develops two to four days after the initial symptoms, appearing first on the head and shifting downward. 

According to the DPH, complications occur in about 30% of infected measles patients, ranging from immune suppression to pneumonia, diarrhea, and encephalitis — a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the brain. 

“Measles is the most contagious respiratory virus and can cause life-threatening illness,” Goldstein said. “These cases are a reminder of the need for health care providers and local health departments to remain vigilant for cases so that appropriate public health measures can be rapidly employed to prevent spread in the state. This is also a reminder that getting vaccinated is the best way for people to protect themselves from this disease.” 

According to the DPH, people who have had measles, or who have been vaccinated against measles, are considered immune. State health officials offer the following guidance for the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine:

  • Children should receive their first dose of the MMR vaccine at 12 to 15 months. School-aged children need two doses of the MMR vaccine.
  • Adults should have at least one dose of the MMR vaccine. Certain high-risk groups need two doses, including international travelers, health care workers, and college students. Adults who were born in the U.S. before 1957 are considered immune due to past exposures. 
Profile image for Abby Patkin

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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