On Monday, FBI officials revealed that U.S. soldier Ikaika Kang had allegedly attempted to aid ISIS and had supposedly been sympathetic toward the militant extremist group since 2015. Though officials have suggested that Kang tried to help ISIS gain traction, they've suggested that his attempts were unsuccessful.
It's clear that the FBI foiled at least one of Kang's most recent alleged attempts to assist the group. The Washington Post reported that the official FBI affidavit alleged Kang tried to provide for ISIS:
...both classified military documents, and other sensitive but unclassified military documents, to people he believed would pass the documents to ISIS. Kang did so with the intention that the documents would assist ISIS, including with fighting and military tactics. Additionally, Kang contributed to the purchase of a drone with the intention that it would be provided to, and used by, ISIS during fighting.
Ultimately, neither the drone nor the documents made it to ISIS. Kang actually gave the documents to undercover agents who had spent a considerable amount of time gaining his trust. After Kang made his first appearance in federal court on Monday, Paul Delacourt, special agent in charge of the FBI in Honolulu, Hawaii, assured the public that Kang was never successful in his attempts to transmit military documents to ISIS. Delacourt said he'd been under investigation for over a year after the Army suspected he was being "radicalized" and reported him in August 2016.
"FBI assets and Army investigative resources were continuously deployed to ensure the public's safety during the course of this investigation and Kang's eventual arrest," Delacourt explained, according to the Post.
Arnold Laanui, FBI spokesman, said that Kang was arrested late on Saturday night. According to FBI Special Agent Jimmy Chen, he allegedly took an oath of loyalty to ISIS' leader just hours before being arrested, though it's not clear whether or not the oath alone led to his arrest.
The 34-year-old Kang was a sergeant stationed in Schofield Barracks, an army installation located in Honolulu, and was an air traffic controller for the Wheeler Army Airfield. He initially joined the army in 2001 following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and he went on to serve in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kang's bail hearing is scheduled for Thursday. He is charged with providing material support to ISIS.
