By Jackson Richman
The FBI said it foiled an ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve terror attack in North Carolina.
Suspect Christian Sturdivant, 18, was arrested on Dec. 31 and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson said at a Jan. 2 press conference.
Sturdivant appeared in court on Jan. 2.
A U.S. citizen, Sturdivant had allegedly planned the attack for about a year, according to Ferguson.
Online, Sturdivant read ISIS material, visited the terrorist group’s websites, and made TikTok videos, Ferguson said.
He communicated online with someone he thought was a member of ISIS, but was actually an undercover agent with the New York Police Department, he added.
Ferguson said Sturdivant pledged his allegiance to ISIS with the agent and said he would “do jihad soon.”
Sturdivant also met an undercover FBI agent he thought was an ISIS participant, “and he started to be very specific with his plans,” Ferguson said, adding that Sturdivant allegedly said he planned to carry out the attack at a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant in Mint Hill, which is outside Charlotte.
The suspect said he was going to wear a Kevlar vest and attack people with knives and hammers on New Year’s Eve, according to Ferguson.
The FBI searched Sturdivant’s home, where they found hammers and knives underneath his bed and notes planning the attack, said Ferguson.
“It was a very well-planned, thoughtful attack … that was fortunately foiled here,” Ferguson said.
“He was preparing for jihad and innocent people were going to die. And we’re very, very fortunate they did not.”
Sturdivant faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The FBI took Sturdivant to a state magistrate to attempt to have him involuntarily committed due to his allegedly threatening people and planning to die at the hands of a policeman, according to Ferguson.
The judge denied the request.
The FBI investigation lasted two weeks, said Special Agent in Charge James Barnacle.
Sturdivant first came to the FBI’s attention in January 2022 as he was in contact on social media with an identified ISIS member overseas, said Barnacle.
The ISIS member instructed him to dress in all black, knock on people’s doors, and attack people with a hammer.
Sturdivant dressed in all black and left his house with a hammer, but his family stepped in, Barnacle said.
No charges were filed, and Sturdivant was referred for and underwent psychological care—the details of which Barnacle said he did not know.
A contact for Sturdivant’s legal representative could not be found.
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