The US Department of Justice (DOJ) prevented a planned ISIS-inspired attack in North Carolina and arrested a teenager who allegedly intended to carry out a violent assault using knives and hammers on New Year's Eve.
According to the US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Russ Ferguson, the suspect is identified as an 18-year-old boy named Christian Sturdivant, who allegedly planned the assault for about a year, intending to target people at a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in Mint Hill.
Ferguson said Sturdivant had been consuming ISIS material, visiting ISIS websites, posting related content on TikTok, and communicating online with individuals he believed were ISIS members—though they were in fact undercover agents with the NYPD and FBI.
"He pledged his allegiance to ISIS with that undercover agent, and he disclosed his plans to do jihad soon," said Ferguson. During the process, he had a word with another undercover agent, whom he assumed was ISIS, revealing specifics of where and how he would carry out the attack.
"He talked about what means he would use to kill innocent people. He said he was going to wear a Kevlar vest and attack people with knives and hammers on New Year's Eve," Furgison added.
After that, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Sturdivant's place, where they found knives and hammers hidden under his bed. They also found notes detailing the meticulously planned assault in which he also mentioned dying by a police officer shooting him.
"He was preparing for jihad and innocent people were going to die. We are fortunate they didn't," Ferguson said.
According to James Barnacle, the FBI agent, Sturdivant had been under psychological care for several years. When he was 14, his grandfather stopped him from attacking neighbours, and his family also hid weapons from him to prevent harm.
The FBI kept a watch on him in 2022, but they paused the investigation when he went under psychological treatment. Last month, after turning 18, he resumed trying to contact ISIS members. Because of this, multiple law enforcement agencies immediately flagged him as a credible threat.
Barnacle explained that Sturdivant wrote a manifesto, stole two hammers, hid them at home, and even asked an undercover agent for guns
Sturdivant faces charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing, followed by a detention hearing, where a federal judge will determine if he remains in custody.
