BAD DECISIONS

U.S. Soldier to Plead Guilty in Terrorism Support Case

Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang had initially pleaded not guilty last year after allegedly pledging loyalty to the Islamic State.

An American soldier accused of pledging loyalty to the Islamic State and providing classified military information to the terrorist group will reportedly plead guilty to federal charges against him. The Hawaii-based soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang, had initially pleaded not guilty after his arrest last year. But Alexander Silvert, the assistant federal defender representing him, told the Associated Press late Tuesday that Kang had agreed to plead guilty. It wasn’t immediately clear which charges he would be pleading guilty to, though court documents allege he tried to provide support to the Islamic State through undercover agents posing as members of the group. He allegedly kissed an ISIS flag in front of the undercover agents, spoke of a potential terrorist attack on an Army base outside Honolulu, and spent hours watching gruesome videos of a terrorist beheadings on his computer. One of Kang’s defense lawyers had previously said he suffers from service-related mental health problems. Kang is reportedly scheduled to withdraw his not guilty plea on Thursday.