CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CN) - The FBI thwarted an ISIS-inspired terror attack in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on New Year's Eve, it announced at a press conference Friday.
Christian Sturdivant, 18, was charged with attempting to support a foreign terrorist organization on Wednesday, in a now-unsealed docket. He is in federal custody and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Sturdivant had detailed plans for a "massacre," at a grocery store and restaurant, said James Barnacle Jr., an FBI special agent in Charlotte. He was willing to sacrifice himself in the attack, planned to use knives and a hammer, and was looking for a store that had the most people doing holiday shopping, Barnacle said.
"Christian Sturdivant pledged his loyalty to ISIS and committed himself to commit to killing Americans on New Year's Eve," Barnacle said, adding that the investigation unfolded quickly and lasted about two weeks before Sturdivant was charged.
In December, the FBI says it discovered Sturdivant had a TikTok account where he was posting in support of ISIS, and around that time he began communicating with someone he believed to be a member of ISIS who was actually an undercover agent. Sturdivant sent the agent a voice recording of "bayat," a loyalty oath to ISIS, Barnacle said, and on Dec. 20 asked for help procuring guns.
Authorities claim in the criminal complaint that Sturdivant told the agent, "I will do jihad soon," and that he was "a soldier of the state," an apparent reference to ISIS.
He was working alone, but he didn't believe he was working alone, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson added, noting Sturdivant thought he was in contact with two different members of ISIS who would help him, but both were undercover agents.
Law enforcement assumed his family was in harm's way, Ferguson said, and believed he planned to target Jews, Christians and LGBTQ+ individuals. He was under 24-hour surveillance through the holidays.
Authorities had initially sought for Sturdivant to be involuntarily committed, but after that request was denied, they secured a criminal complaint from a magistrate judge late on New Year's Eve.
"This investigation highlights the very real threat posed by people who self-radicalize online and are inspired by jihadist ideologies espoused by foreign terrorist organizations," Barnacle said. "They seek to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons and with little-to-no warning."
Sturdivant's grandfather - his guardian - secured the knives and hammers in the home to ensure that Sturdivant did not have access to them, but Ferguson said a blue hammer, a wooden handled hammer and two butcher knives were still found under his bed when the house was searched Monday.
Law enforcement also found a handwritten manifesto in his home, titled "New Years Attack 2026" and listing items including a vest, mask, tactical gloves and two knives. In the note, the FBI said, he described a goal of stabbing 20 to 21 victims and planned to attack police to "die a martyr."
A list of targets was taken from his bedroom during the search, along with tactical gloves and a vest, the FBI said.
"He was training. He was doing pushups, calisthenics, fitness. He had stolen both of those knives. He hid them in his residence. His family had actively hid knives and weapons from him. He hid them. He wrote a manifest[o]," Barnacle said. "He stole two hammers out of the storage shed and hid them in his house. He reached out to an undercover and requested guns."
Sturdivant first attracted attention from the FBI in January 2022, Barnacle said, after an unidentified member of ISIS instructed him to knock on people's doors and attack them with a hammer.
At the time, Sturdivant dressed in all black and left his house with a hammer, Barnacle said, but his family stepped in and he underwent psychological care. He lost his social media access and was not charged with a crime at the time.
Sturdivant will have a preliminary hearing - where he could argue the government lacked probable cause to detain him - and a detention hearing.
Source: Courthouse News Service
