U.S. soldier pleads guilty to helping ISIS

A U.S. Army sergeant in Hawaii pleaded guilty Wednesday to providing secret military information and other forms of support to undercover agents he believed belonged to Islamic State (ISIS). Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang admitted to four counts of aiding and assisting a known terror organization.

FBI agents arrested him in November after he pledged loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The FBI said he wanted to “take his rifle, his magazines, and kill ‘a bunch of people.’” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said the FBI began investigating Kang in August 2016 after he began sympathizing with ISIS earlier in the year. Sorenson said Kang provided the undercover agents with the personal information of several U.S. service members, details on a mobile airspace management system, and information on the U.S. military’s weapons file. He also recorded training videos that he expected ISIS members in the Middle East to use and provided a drone meant to track U.S. troops.

Kang enlisted in the Army in December 2001 and served in South Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan. His sentencing is set for Dec. 10, where he will likely receive 25 years in prison.