FBI claims ‘lone wolf’ teen impressed by ISIS was planning knives and hammers assault at grocery retailer on New Year’s Eve | EUROtoday

The FBI thwarted an ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve assault inside a grocery retailer in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the suspect revealed his alleged plans to undercover officers, prosecutors stated.

Christian Sturdivant, 18, was arrested and charged with trying to supply materials help to a international terrorist group, prosecutors stated Friday, and had been on the FBI’s radar since 2022.

The suspect meant to hold out a “lone wolf” type assault and deliberate to assault customers with knives and hammers, prosecutors stated.

Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, alleged that Sturdivant started by happening ISIS web sites and “eventually reached out to what he thought was a member of ISIS.”

“In reality, [it] was an undercover agent with NYPD in New York,” Ferguson stated at a press convention. “He pledged his allegiance to ISIS with that undercover agent, and he disclosed his plans to quote ‘do jihad soon.’”

“He then met a second undercover with the FBI, who he also thought was an ISIS participant,” Ferguson continued. “And he started to be very specific with his plans.”

Sturdivant allegedly revealed his plans to hold out the assault at a grocery retailer in Mint Hill.

“He talked about what means he would use to kill innocent people,” Ferguson stated. “It was a very well planned attack that he had planned, and that was fortunately foiled.”

During a search of the suspect’s house on Dec. 29, regulation enforcement discovered handwritten paperwork, together with one titled “New Years Attack 2026.”

“We allege Sturdivant was willing to sacrifice himself by committing a terrorist attack using knives and a hammer to support the murder, torture and extreme violence that ISIS represents,” added James Barnacle, the FBI Charlotte Special Agent accountable for the investigation.

“We didn’t just learn about him a few weeks ago. Sturdivant first came to the FBI radar in January of 2022 when he was still a juvenile,” he added.

It comes a 12 months on from the lethal New Orleans assault on revellers ringing within the new 12 months on Bourbon Street on January 1, 2025.

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