hawaii soldier Ikaika Kang terrorism charge sot_00001811
FBI: Soldier arrested, charged with terrorism
01:23 - Source: KHON

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His military record showed he served in both Iraq and Afghanistan

A defense official said the soldier was arrested over allegedly pledging support to ISIS

Washington CNN  — 

An FBI spokesman on Monday confirmed that a SWAT team arrested a soldier in Hawaii over the weekend and charged him with supporting ISIS.

FBI Honolulu spokesman Arnold Laanui confirmed the agents arrested Ikaika Erik Kang, a 34-year-old Army soldier stationed at Schofield Barracks on Saturday.

In a release, the FBI said it had worked closely with the Army in this case. The statement said the investigation by the FBI and the Army had been going on for more than a year.

The FBI said it believed he was a “lone actor” and that Kang was arrested for “providing material support” to ISIS.

The younger Kang is an active-duty Army air traffic control operator assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii. Kang’s service records show he was deployed to Afghanistan from July 2013 to April 2014 and served in Iraq from March 2010 to February 2011. He has received a range of honors for his service, including the Army Commendation Medal.

An attorney representing Kang indicated his client had possible mental health issues that had gone untreated.

“It would appear that Sgt. Kang, a decorated veteran of two deployments to the Middle East, may have some service-related mental health issues which the government was aware of, but neglected to treat,” the lawyer, Birney Bervar, said in an email.

The criminal complaint filed against Kang alleges he swore allegiance to ISIS and tried to provide ISIS with both military documents and training. The complaint said Kang made threats and pro-ISIS arguments while in the Army and that his security clearance was revoked temporarily in response to those actions in 2012.

The complaint alleges Kang spoke with undercover FBI agents purporting to be connected to ISIS. It says that Kang told one agent about a desire to join ISIS and offered to provide military documents and demonstrate martial arts techniques to another agent.

CBS News first reported the arrest.

In May, a US Air Force veteran was sentenced to 35 years in prison for attempting to join ISIS. Authorities arrested Tairod Pugh in New Jersey in 2015.

CNN’s Barbara Starr and Laura Jarrett contributed to this report.