Soldier arrested for pledging loyalty to Daesh
Kang was ‘a decorated veteran of two deployments’ to Iraq and Afghanistan
An active duty US soldier was arrested on terrorism charges after authorities say he pledged allegiance to Daesh and said he wanted to “kill a bunch of people”.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang, 34, in a suburb of Honolulu over the weekend after a year-long investigation involving multiple undercover officers and confidential informants. He made an initial appearance in federal court on Monday.
Kang’s court-appointed defence attorney, Birney Bervar, said it appears his client may suffer from service-related mental health issues of which the government was aware but neglected to treat. Bervar declined to elaborate.
He said Kang was “a decorated veteran of two deployments” to Iraq and Afghanistan.
A 26-page affidavit from FBI Special Agent Jimmy Chen filed in court on Monday detailed how Kang thought he was dealing with people working for Daesh but who were actually undercover agents.
Paul Delacourt, the FBI special agent in charge of the Hawaii bureau, said Kang gave military documents to people he believed would give them to Daesh, but none of them got to the organisation.
He told reporters the FBI believed Kang was a lone actor and wasn’t affiliated with anyone who poses a threat.
On Saturday, agents arrested him after he pledged loyalty to Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi and said he wanted to “take his rifle, his magazines and kill ‘a bunch of people’.”
Making how-to videos
Kang and the agents together made combat training videos he believed would be taken to the Middle East to help prepare the group’s soldiers to fight American forces, according to the affidavit.
Kang had received the highest level of combat training available in the Army and is a mixed martial arts enthusiast.