The FBI announced Friday it had stopped an alleged plot in support of the Islamic State terrorist group to attack people at a North Carolina grocery store on New Year’s Eve.
Fox News reported on Friday that Christian Sturdivant, 18, of Mint Hill — a town outside Charlotte — was arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. This information was shared by U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson.
“The FBI and our partners continued working 24/7 over the holidays protecting the American people, and this case out of Charlotte foiling another alleged New Year’s Eve attack is the latest example of their tremendous work," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Our teams quickly identified the threat and acted decisively — no doubt saving American lives in the process," Patel’s statement continued. “Thanks to our Joint Terrorism Task Force and regional partners both in New York and Western North Carolina for their efforts.”
The announcement of this recently disrupted plot comes less than three weeks after authorities in Southern California charged four members of an anti-government group for allegedly planning a number of bomb attacks on New Year’s Eve.
“The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people, and this case demonstrates our dedication to do everything we can to protect the residents of North Carolina. We worked closely with the Department of Justice, NYPD, Mint Hill Police Department, and our FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force partners to investigate and disrupt this serious threat of a violent attack. We will never stop working to hold people accountable who seek to harm and terrorize our community,” said James C. Barnacle, Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office, per Fox News.
What we know about the alleged terror plot
Prosecutors said the alleged plot was stopped after Sturdivant recently began communicating online with someone he “believed to be affiliated with ISIS but in reality was a government online covert employee.” In a communication on Dec. 14, Sturdivant allegedly sent that person, referred to in the criminal complaint as OC, an image of two hammers and a knife.
“During his online communications with the OC, Sturdivant said, ‘I will do jihad soon,’ and proclaimed he was ‘a soldier of the state,’ meaning ISIS,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, per Fox News.
“In subsequent online communications with the OC, Sturdivant indicated that he planned to attack a specific grocery store in North Carolina and discussed plans to purchase a firearm to use along with the knives during the attack,” it added.
Law enforcement searched Sturdivant’s residence on Dec. 29 and found various handwritten documents, one of which was titled “New Year’s Attack 2026” and listed, among other things, items such as a vest, mask, tactical gloves, and two knives allegedly to be used in the attack.”
“It also listed a goal of stabbing as many civilians as possible and (the) total number of victims as 20 to 21. The note also included a section listed as ‘martyrdom Op,’ with a plan to attack police that arrived at the site of the attack so the defendant would die a martyr,” the U.S. Attorney Office continued, per Fox News. “In addition, law enforcement seized from Sturdivant’s bedroom a blue hammer, a wooden handled hammer, and two butcher knives hidden underneath the defendant’s bed.”
Sturdivant remains held in federal custody, and if convicted, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
Sturdivant had also made multiple social media posts in support of ISIS.
In one post in early December, he posted an image showing two miniature figurines of Jesus with on-screen text that said “May Allah curse the cross worshippers.” Allegedly, the post is consistent with ISIS’ practice of calling for the extermination of all non-believers, per Fox News.
Security was heightened at New Year’s Eve events across the U.S.
A joint assessment done by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security ahead of New Year’s Eve found that lone actors and smaller groups with a range of ideological motives posed the most significant threat to major celebrations like the one in Times Square, per CNN.
The report noted the threat from small groups of people motivated by “a broad range of racial, ethnic, political, religious, anti-government, anti-immigration, societal or ideological beliefs and grievances.”
There was no specific credible threat and similar assessments are often done ahead of major events like New Year’s Eve and July Fourth.
According to this assessment the overall “threat matrix” was elevated for New Year’s Eve celebrations, per CNN.
Concern for security at these events also arose from the recent Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia and the deadly attack on celebrations last year on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
Colin P. Clarke, executive director of The Soufan Center, who focuses on domestic and transnational terrorism, referred to New Year’s Eve the “Super Bowl of counterterrorism” — and the “holy grail for a terrorist.”
“It’s a soft target, highly symbolic with large crowds gathered,” Clarke said, per CBS News. “It’s the holy grail for a group like the Islamic state or a group or individual inspired by the Islamic state.”