An active duty US soldier plotted to attack NYC 9/11 Memorial and was was arrested Tuesday in Georgia on terrorism charges. The soldier had 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.

Cole James Bridges of Stow, Ohio, was in custody on charges of attempted material support of a terrorist organization — the Islamic State group. He is also charged with attempted murder of a military member, said Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

The 20-year-old soldier, also known as Cole Gonzales, was with the Third Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, when he thought he was communicating with the Islamic State online about the terrorism plots, Biase said.

An American Soldier Plotted To Attack NYC 9/11 Memorial?

This news comes as tens of thousands of troops have been assigned to guard the Inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and weeks after the attack on the US Capitol which has now included a retired FDNY firefighter.