The FBI, on Friday, said that it had disrupted a plot to attack a North Carolina grocery store and fast-food restaurant on New Year's Eve, arresting a man who officials said was inspired by the Islamic State group and had pledged loyalty to the extremist militants.
Eighteen-year-old Christian Sturdivant, who is reported to have a history of mental health issues was arrested on New Year's Eve for allegedly planning a knife-and-hammer attack in the name of the Islamic State armed group, according to US authorities.
Sturdivant, was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terror organisation after officials say he communicated his attack plans to an undercover FBI employee who was posing as an encouraging confidant.
He was arrested by federal agents on Wednesday after which a North Carolina judge ordered Sturdivant to remain in custody until a further hearing on January 7.
An FBI affidavit filed in the case said Sturdivant came under investigation last month following information that a social media account, which officials connected to Sturdivant, had made posts supportive of IS.
Those included posts that depicted a ballistic vest and appeared to promote violence, the affidavit said, and the display name for the account referenced the name of the late IS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Sturdivant began communicating on social media with someone who he thought was supportive of his plans but who was actually an undercover FBI employee, the affidavit said.
"He pledged his allegiance to ISIS with that undercover agent, and he disclosed his plans to 'do jihad' soon," said federal prosecutor Russ Ferguson at a press conference, using another name for the group.
He revealed to the second agent his plans to carry out a knife-and-hammer attack at a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in the town of Mint Hill on New Year's Eve, Ferguson said.
"He said he was going to wear a Kevlar vest and attack people with knives and hammers. And of course, he talked about when he was going to carry out this attack, which was New Year's Eve."
Ferguson declined to name the grocery store and fast-food restaurant that were allegedly targeted, citing the ongoing investigation. But he said both were in Mint Hill, a small bedroom community of Charlotte.
Ferguson stressed that the suspect was put under 24-hour surveillance when it became clear he was planning an attack, and that "at no point was the public in harm's way."
The affidavit said that Sturdivant had been on the FBI's radar in January 2022, when he was a minor, after officials learned that he had been in contact with an IS member in Europe and had received instructions to dress in all black, knock on people's doors and commit attacks with a hammer.
Sturdivant did actually set out for a neighbor's house armed with a hammer and a knife but was restrained by his grandfather, the affidavit said.
“But no charges were brought at the time and he received psychological care before police authorities were again alerted to his online activities,” said Special Agent James Barnacle.
The North Carolina attack would’ve come a year after 14 people were killed in New Orleans by a US citizen and Army veteran who had proclaimed his support for IS on social media.
Other IS-inspired attacks over the past decade include a 2015 shooting rampage by a husband-and-wife team who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, and a 2016 massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by a gunman who fatally shot 49 people.
The FBI has foiled several alleged attacks through sting operations in which agents posed as terror supporters, supplying advice and equipment. Critics say the strategy can amount to entrapment of mentally vulnerable people who wouldn’t have the wherewithal to act alone.
(With inputs from AP, AFP)