Federal authorities said Friday they stopped an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack planned for New Year’s Eve at a grocery store and a fast food restaurant in Mint Hill, North Carolina.
Authorities identified the suspect as Christian Sturdivant, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen who allegedly planned to carry out a mass casualty attack using knives and hammers in the Charlotte suburb after becoming radicalized online. Investigators said Sturdivant intended to die as a “martyr.”
“He was preparing for jihad and innocent people were going to die,” said Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, during a Friday press conference.
Ferguson added that the suspect specifically targeted Jews, Christians, and LGBTQ individuals.
According to the FBI, Sturdivant had first come to law enforcement’s attention in January 2022, when he was just 14 years old. At that time, he was communicating online with an overseas ISIS member who allegedly instructed him to dress in black, knock on doors, and attack people with a hammer. FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge James Barnacle said the attack was stopped by Sturdivant’s family before it could be carried out. The teenager underwent psychological treatment and was not charged.
Authorities were later told Sturdivant no longer had access to social media, a claim investigators learned was false on December 18, Barnacle said.
In recent months, Sturdivant began consuming ISIS propaganda online and posting TikTok videos before reaching out to an individual he believed was an ISIS operative. That individual was actually an undercover New York Police Department officer. During those communications, Sturdivant pledged allegiance to ISIS and told the undercover officer he planned to “do jihad soon,” authorities said.
He later communicated with an undercover FBI agent, whom he also believed was affiliated with ISIS, and shared detailed plans about where and how he intended to carry out the attack. He also asked for assistance obtaining firearms.
The FBI executed a search warrant at Sturdivant’s residence, where agents discovered knives and hammers hidden under his bed, along with handwritten notes outlining his attack plans. Investigators said family members had previously hidden knives in the home out of concern.
Sturdivant was arrested on New Year’s Eve as he was being released from a medical facility. He is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
“Without the swift action of the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the New York City Police Department, the Mint Hill Police Department, and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we could be announcing a national tragedy,” Barnacle said. “Instead, a terrorist attack was thwarted.”
The foiled plot comes one year after an ISIS-inspired attacker drove a vehicle into a New Year’s Eve crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14 people and injuring dozens before being stopped by police.
The post Feds Thwart ISIS-Inspired Terrorist Attack Planned In North Carolina appeared first on Real News Now.
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