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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) \u2014 The FBI said Friday it disrupted a New Year\u2019s Eve attack plot targeting a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in North Carolina, arresting an 18-year-old man who authorities say pledged loyalty to the\u00a0Islamic State group.<\/p>\n
Christian Sturdivant was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Investigators said he told an undercover FBI employee posing as a supportive confidant about his plans to attack people. Their online messages, along with a recent search of his home, indicated attacks would occur with knives and hammers, according to prosecutors and records.<\/p>\n
Worried Sturdivant might attempt violence before New Year\u2019s Eve, the FBI placed him under constant surveillance for days, including on Christmas, U.S. Attorney for Western North Carolina Russ Ferguson said.<\/p>\n
Agents were prepared to arrest him earlier if he left his home with weapons, Ferguson said at a news conference in Charlotte. \u201cAt no point was the public in harm\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sturdivant was arrested Wednesday and remained in custody after a federal court appearance Friday. An attorney representing him did not immediately respond to an email or phone message seeking comment. Another hearing was scheduled for Jan. 7.<\/p>\n
The alleged attack would have taken place one year after 14 people were killed\u00a0in New Orleans\u00a0by a U.S. citizen and Army veteran who proclaimed support for IS on social media.<\/p>\n
The FBI has foiled several alleged attacks through sting operations in which agents posed as terror supporters, supplying advice or equipment. Critics say the strategy can amount to entrapment of\u00a0mentally vulnerable\u00a0people who wouldn\u2019t have the wherewithal to act alone.<\/p>\n
Searches of Sturdivant\u2019s home and phone uncovered what investigators described as a manifesto detailing plans for the attack, FBI Special Agent in Charge James Barnacle told reporters.<\/p>\n
Sturdivant \u201cwas willing to sacrifice himself,\u201d Barnacle said.<\/p>\n
FBI Special Agent James C. Barnacle, Jr., center, U.S. Attorney for Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson, right, and Mint Hill Police Department Chief Joseph Hatley give a press conference, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo\/Erik Verduzco)<\/p>\n
A handwritten note found in a trash can at Sturdivant\u2019s home listed details of the planned attacks and the number of intended victims at a Burger King restaurant and unnamed grocery store, according to an FBI affidavit.<\/p>\n
The note also said he would attack arriving officers and \u201choped to die by the hands of police.\u201d Ferguson said the attack was to take place in Mint Hill, a bedroom community of Charlotte.<\/p>\n
The affidavit said a database check indicated Sturdivant worked at Burger King in Mint Hill. It wasn\u2019t clear if that was the same restaurant cited in the note. Ferguson declined to identify the specific targeted businesses, citing the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n
If convicted, Sturdivant faces up to 20 years in prison, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
The fact that Sturdivant encountered two undercover officers while allegedly planning the attack should reassure the public, Ferguson said.<\/p>\n
The affidavit says the investigation began last month after authorities linked Sturdivant to a social media account that posted content supportive of IS, including imagery that appeared to promote violence. The account\u2019s display name referenced Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the former leader of the extremist group.<\/p>\n
Some experts argue that IS is powerful today partly\u00a0as a brand, inspiring both militant groups and individuals in attacks that the group itself may have no real role in.<\/p>\n
The affidavit says Sturdivant had been on the FBI\u2019s radar in January 2022, when he was a minor, after officials learned he\u2019d been in contact with a suspected IS member in Europe, and received instructions to dress in black, knock on people\u2019s doors and commit attacks with a hammer.<\/p>\n
At that time, Sturdivant set out for a neighbor\u2019s house armed with a hammer and a knife but was restrained by his grandfather, the affidavit says.<\/p>\n
No charges were filed at that time, but Sturdivant underwent psychological treatment and the FBI was told he no longer had access to social media, Barnacle said. But the FBI found out weeks ago that he was back on it, he added.<\/p>\n
The FBI in Los Angeles last month announced the disruption of a\u00a0separate New Year\u2019s Eve plot, arresting members of an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group who federal officials said planned to bomb multiple sites in southern California.<\/p>\n
Other IS-inspired attacks over the past decade include a 2015 shooting rampage by\u00a0a husband-and-wife team\u00a0who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, and a 2016 massacre at\u00a0a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by a gunman who fatally shot 49 people<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press All rights reserved<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) \u2014 The FBI said Friday it disrupted a New Year\u2019s Eve attack plot targeting a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in North Carolina, arresting an 18-year-old man who authorities say pledged loyalty to the\u00a0Islamic State group. Christian Sturdivant was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Investigators<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[817,4520,2618,3162,177,3235,727,863,557,471],"class_list":{"0":"post-14969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jesus","8":"tag-attack","9":"tag-disrupted","10":"tag-eve","11":"tag-fbi","12":"tag-group","13":"tag-inspired","14":"tag-islamic","15":"tag-plan","16":"tag-state","17":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}