HawaiiNewsNow, Honolulu :
An active duty Hawaii soldier remains in federal custody after he was arrested for allegedly trying to provide material support and training to the Islamic State group.
A criminal complaint alleges that Ikaika Erik Kang, 34, was arrested at his Waipahu apartment Saturday, shortly after pledging his loyalty to ISIS and telling an undercover federal agent that he wanted to kill “a bunch of people.”
“A probable cause arrest was made in the interest of public safety,” Honolulu FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul D. Delacourt said Monday, after Kang’s first appearance in federal court.
He added, “We believe that Kang was a lone actor and was not associated with others who present a threat to Hawaii.” Delacourt said Kang’s arrest came after an investigation that lasted for more than a year, and involved multiple agencies.
Kang, who has two registered firearms and extensive combat training, is assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks.
The criminal complaint says that he “attempted to provide material support to ISIS by providing both classified military documents, and other sensitive but unclassified military documents, to persons he believed would pass the documents to ISIS.”
FBI officials said no classified materials actually ended up in the hands of the terrorist group.
But the complaint also alleges that Kang expressed interest in fighting overseas for ISIS, and offered an undercover agent purporting to be a member of the group training and other support.
Defense attorney Birney Bervar said Monday that he had limited contact with Kang before the hearing, but described him as cooperative.
“It would appear that Sgt. Kang, a decorated veteran of two deployments to the Middle East, may suffer from service-related mental health issues, which the government was aware of but neglected to treat,” he told Hawaii News Now.
Kang, a 2001 graduate of Kaiser High School, enlisted in the Army in December 2001, just months after the 9/11 attacks.
His father, Clifford, said he’s shocked by the allegations against his son.
“I’m just in shock. He’s a great kid. He’s not real outgoing, he’s never been, but neither was I,” Kang told Hawaii News Now. “But other than that, he’s a great kid, a normal kid who grew up in Waimanalo.”
An active duty Hawaii soldier remains in federal custody after he was arrested for allegedly trying to provide material support and training to the Islamic State group.
A criminal complaint alleges that Ikaika Erik Kang, 34, was arrested at his Waipahu apartment Saturday, shortly after pledging his loyalty to ISIS and telling an undercover federal agent that he wanted to kill “a bunch of people.”
“A probable cause arrest was made in the interest of public safety,” Honolulu FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul D. Delacourt said Monday, after Kang’s first appearance in federal court.
He added, “We believe that Kang was a lone actor and was not associated with others who present a threat to Hawaii.” Delacourt said Kang’s arrest came after an investigation that lasted for more than a year, and involved multiple agencies.
Kang, who has two registered firearms and extensive combat training, is assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks.
The criminal complaint says that he “attempted to provide material support to ISIS by providing both classified military documents, and other sensitive but unclassified military documents, to persons he believed would pass the documents to ISIS.”
FBI officials said no classified materials actually ended up in the hands of the terrorist group.
But the complaint also alleges that Kang expressed interest in fighting overseas for ISIS, and offered an undercover agent purporting to be a member of the group training and other support.
Defense attorney Birney Bervar said Monday that he had limited contact with Kang before the hearing, but described him as cooperative.
“It would appear that Sgt. Kang, a decorated veteran of two deployments to the Middle East, may suffer from service-related mental health issues, which the government was aware of but neglected to treat,” he told Hawaii News Now.
Kang, a 2001 graduate of Kaiser High School, enlisted in the Army in December 2001, just months after the 9/11 attacks.
His father, Clifford, said he’s shocked by the allegations against his son.
“I’m just in shock. He’s a great kid. He’s not real outgoing, he’s never been, but neither was I,” Kang told Hawaii News Now. “But other than that, he’s a great kid, a normal kid who grew up in Waimanalo.”
