Former Ft. Riley soldier arrested on terror charges

Update: An active duty Army soldier arrested by the FBI in Hawaii on terrorism charges has ties to Kansas and served at Fort Riley for five years.

The Public Affairs Office for the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley says Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Erik Kang, 34, was assigned to the 1st Combat Brigade 1st Infantry division from September 2009 to September 2014.

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports (http://bit.ly/2uaRVzl) Kang was briefly involved in mixed martial arts in Kansas City, Mo. while he was stationed at Fort Riley, according to Kang's father.

The information was confirmed in a Facebook post from local MMA fighter David Rickels.

"I trained with this guy for a couple years in Manhattan. He was stationed at Ft.Riley," said Rickels Tuesday afternoon as he shared a story about Kang.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Kang made threatening statements in 2011 while in the U.S. Army.

"He was reprimanded on several occasions for threatening to hurt or kill other service members, and for arguing pro-ISIS views while at work and on-post," states the court document.

Kang's security clearance was revoked in 2012 but reinstated the following year after he complied with military requirements stemming from the investigation.

The paperwork goes on to say that Kang appeared to become radicalized around August 2016 and the Army referred this matter to the FBI.

"He seemed like he was compassionate, but you know man, I don't know what he's compassionate about now," Rickels says.

Rickels says Kang seemed odd at times, but he never suspected that the man he trained with was radicalized.

"...He just always seemed off," Rickels says. ...Just like everything wasn't clicking upstairs, you know. But I still wouldn't have guessed. I would've never saw this coming."

Rickels says the Kang he knew is much different than the person now considered an ISIS sympathizer.

"You know, I knew Kang from my experience with him and like I said, that was a nice experience. But this is a different person I wouldn't have anything to do with," he says.

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A U.S. official says that an active duty Army soldier has been arrested by the FBI in Hawaii on terrorism charges.

The official says that the soldier was arrested because of connections he had with the Islamic State group.

He says the soldier was with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu.

No other details were available.

The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

FBI spokesman Arnold Laanui said Monday that SWAT team special agents arrested Ikaika Kang on Saturday. Laanui says the FBI will have more information when a criminal complaint has been filed.

Baldor reported from Washington.