Category: Security News

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, 24, of Stow, Ohio, was sentenced to 168 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder U.S. military service members, based on his efforts to assist the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) to attack and kill U.S. soldiers in the Middle East.

Bridges pleaded guilty to terrorism charges on June 14, 2023. According to court documents, Bridges joined the U.S. Army in approximately September 2019 and was assigned as a cavalry scout in the Third Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Before he joined the Army, beginning in at least 2019, Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology, and began to express his support for ISIS and jihad on social media. In or about October 2020, approximately one year after joining the Army, Bridges began communicating with an FBI online covert employee (the OCE), who was posing as an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the U.S. military and his desire to aid ISIS. Bridges then provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City. Bridges also provided the OCE with portions of a U.S. Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics, with the understanding that the materials would be used by ISIS in future attack planning.

In or about December 2020, Bridges began to supply the OCE with instructions for the purported ISIS fighters on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East. Among other things, Bridges diagrammed specific military maneuvers intended to help ISIS fighters maximize the lethality of future attacks on U.S. troops. Bridges also provided advice about the best way to fortify an ISIS encampment to ambush U.S. Special Forces, including by wiring certain buildings with explosives to kill the U.S. troops. Then, in January 2021, Bridges provided the OCE with a video of himself in his U.S. Army body armor standing in front of a flag often used by ISIS fighters and making a gesture symbolic of support for ISIS. Approximately one week later, Bridges sent a second video in which Bridges, using a voice manipulator, narrated a propaganda speech in support of the anticipated ambush by ISIS on U.S. troops.

The FBI Washington, Atlanta, and Cleveland Field Offices investigated the case, with valuable assistance provided by U.S. Army Counterintelligence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and U.S. Army Third Infantry Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg and Matthew Hellman for the Southern District of New York prosecuted the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Michael Dittoe of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections to challenge a systematic state program aimed at removing voters from its election rolls too close to the Nov. 5 general election in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

Section 8(c)(2) of the NVRA, also known as the Quiet Period Provision, requires states to complete systematic programs aimed at removing the names of ineligible voters from voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections. The Quiet Period Provision applies to certain systematic programs carried out by states that are aimed at striking names from voter registration lists based on a perceived failure to meet initial eligibility requirements — including citizenship — at the time of registration.

“As the National Voter Registration Act mandates, officials across the country should take heed of the law’s crystal clear and unequivocal restrictions on systematic list maintenance efforts that fall within 90 days of an election,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “By cancelling voter registrations within 90 days of Election Day, Virginia places qualified voters in jeopardy of being removed from the rolls and creates the risk of confusion for the electorate. Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy and the Justice Department will continue to ensure that the rights of qualified voters are protected.”

The Quiet Period is an important protection for voters, because systematic removal programs may be error-ridden, cause voter confusion and remove eligible voters days or weeks before Election Day who may be unable to correct the State’s errors in time to vote or may be dissuaded from voting at all. States may remove names from official lists of voters in various ways and for various reasons, but they may not carry-on this kind of systematic removal program so close to a federal election.

On Aug. 7, the governor of Virginia signed an executive order requiring among other things that the commissioner of the Department of Elections certify that the Department of Elections was conducting “Daily Updates to the Voter List.” These updates included “compar[ing] the list of individuals who have been identified as non-citizens” by the State Department of Motor Vehicles “to the list of existing registered voters.” Local registrars were then required to “notify any matches of their pending cancellation unless they affirm their citizenship within 14 days.” The letter directs recipients who are in fact U.S. citizens and eligible to vote to complete and return an Affirmation of Citizenship form. The notice informs voters that, if they do not respond to the notice within 14 days, they will be removed from the list of registered voters. This process has led to U.S. citizens having their voter registrations cancelled. 

The process laid out in the executive order formalized an ongoing list maintenance procedure that has been carried out into the quiet period, including at least as recently as late September. This systematic voter removal program, which the State is conducting within 90 days of the upcoming federal election, violates the Quiet Period Provision.

The Justice Department seeks injunctive relief that would restore the ability of impacted eligible voters to vote unimpeded on Election Day and would prohibit future quiet period violations. The department also seeks remedial mailings to educate eligible voters concerning the restoration of their rights and adequate training of local officials and poll workers to address confusion and distrust among eligible voters accused of being noncitizens.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia and U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia made the announcement.

Individuals who are eligible voters and believe that they may have been removed from the voter rolls as a result of Virginia’s systematic removal process should contact the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section through the internet reporting portal at civilrights.justice.gov or by telephone at 1-800-253-3931.  More information about voting and elections, including guidance documents and other resources, is available at www.justice.gov/voting. More information about the NVRA and other federal voting laws is available at www.justice.gov/crt/voting-section. The department recently announced a new guidance document addressing limits on when and how jurisdictions may remove voters from their voter lists. Complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be reported to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section through the internet reporting portal at civilrights.justice.gov or by telephone at 1-800-253-3931. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the City of South Bend, Indiana, alleging that the hiring process for entry-level police officers at the South Bend Police Department (SBPD) violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Specifically, the department alleges that South Bend uses a written examination that discriminates against Black applicants and a physical fitness test that discriminates against female applicants.

Title VII is a federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex, color, national origin and religion. Title VII prohibits not only intentional discrimination but also employment practices that result in a disparate impact on a protected group, unless such practices are job related and consistent with business necessity.

“Equal employment opportunity is critical to ensuring that law enforcement agencies do not unfairly exclude otherwise eligible job applicants based on discriminatory practices,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Discriminatory barriers that deny qualified Black and female applicants the opportunity to be police officers violate civil rights and undermine public safety efforts. The Justice Department is committed to equal access to employment opportunities in the policing sector so that all qualified applicants have a fair chance to protect and serve their communities.”

The lawsuit stems from a pattern and practice investigation launched by Civil Rights Division in 2021 into SBPD’s hiring practices. The investigation found that SBPD’s written examination and physical fitness test do not meaningfully distinguish between applicants who can and cannot perform the position of entry-level police officer. These tests also had the effect of disqualifying Black and female applicants from the hiring process at significantly disproportionate rates. The department thus concluded that these tests violate Title VII’s bar on discrimination in employment.

Filed in the Northern District of Indiana, the lawsuit alleges that, since at least 2016, South Bend has used a written examination that has disproportionately excluded Black applicants and a physical fitness test that has disproportionately excluded female applicants from consideration for police officer positions. The complaint asserts that South Bend’s uses of these tests are neither job related nor consistent with business necessity, and thus, violate Title VII.

The Justice Department is seeking a court order to ensure that South Bend uses only lawful tests in its entry-level police officer hiring process. The department also seeks relief for Black and female applicants disqualified by the challenged tests, including back pay and, for those who can successfully complete the new lawful selection process, job offers with retroactive seniority.

The full and fair enforcement of Title VII is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division. The division recently proposed consent decrees to resolve lawsuits challenging similarly discriminatory hiring processes at the Maryland Department of State Police and the Durham Fire Department. The division has issued a fact sheet on combating hiring discrimination by police and fire departments to help applicants for public safety jobs understand their Title VII rights to be free from discriminatory hiring processes. More information about the Civil Rights Division can be found at www.justice.gov/crt.