US says it thwarted potential ISIS-inspired New Year's Eve attack in North Carolina

An 18-year-old is charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation over an alleged plan to carry out an attack using knives and hammers

FILE PHOTO: The seal of the US Justice Department is seen on the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. REUTERS

The US Justice Department said on Friday it thwarted an alleged plan by a North Carolina man to carry out an ISIS-inspired attack using knives and hammers on New Year’s Eve.

Christian Sturdivant, 18, of Mint Hill, North Carolina, was charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, according to a criminal complaint.

Sturdivant has not yet entered a plea on the charges. He was arrested on Wednesday, New Year's Eve, and made his first court appearance on Friday.

Sturdivant had pledged allegiance to ISIS and planned to attack a grocery store and fast food restaurant in his hometown, Russ Ferguson, the US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, told reporters during a press conference.

"He was preparing for jihad and innocent people were going to die," Ferguson said.

FBI agents searching Sturdivant’s home found a handwritten document titled “New Years Attack 2026,” which allegedly discussed plans to stab up to 20 victims and attack responding police officers. Agents seized hammers and knives from his bedroom, according to a Justice Department statement, which cited information in a criminal complaint.

Sturdivant had planned the attack for about a year and communicated online in December with two undercover agents with the FBI and New York Police Department, whom he thought were affiliated with ISIS. He shared photos of two hammers and a knife and discussed plans for a coming attack, according to the complaint.

Sturdivant came on the FBI's radar initially in 2022 when, as a juvenile, he was in contact with an unidentified ISIS member overseas and took steps to carry out an attack with a hammer. He was not charged in that incident and instead underwent psychological treatment, according to law enforcement officials.