N.C. Teen Allegedly Had 'Very Well Planned' New Year's Eve Terrorist Plot — But Feds Caught Him By Christine Pelisek

Federal authorities stopped an alleged plot by a teenager to attack people inside a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in North Carolina on New Year’s Eve.

The alleged plot by Christian Sturdivant, 18, was in support of the Islamic State terrorist group, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson alleged at a press conference Friday, Jan. 2.  

“He has been planning this attack for about a year, but he’s been planning an attack for far longer than that,” Ferguson alleged. “He was planning this attack in support of ISIS.”

Sturdivant was arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

Ferguson said Sturdivant spent a lot of time on the internet reading ISIS-related material and created TikTok videos about ISIS and “eventually reached out to what he thought was a member of ISIS” on Dec. 12.

“In reality, [it] was an undercover agent with NYPD in New York,” Ferguson said. “He pledged his allegiance to ISIS with that undercover agent, and he disclosed his plans to ‘do Jihad soon.’ He then met a second undercover with the FBI who he also thought was an ISIS participant, and he started to be very specific with his plans.”

His alleged targets were a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant in Mint Hill, a suburb on the outskirts of Charlotte, “places that we go every day and don’t think that we may be harmed,” Ferguson said.

“He talked about what means he would use to kill innocent people,” Ferguson said, adding that Sturdivant “said he was going to wear a Kevlar vest and attack people with knives and hammers.”

The FBI executed a search warrant at his home on Dec. 29 and discovered two hammers and two butcher knives hidden under his bed as well as handwritten notes.

According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of North Carolina press release, one of the handwritten notes was titled “New Years Attack 2026.”

“The document listed items such as a vest, mask, tactical gloves, and two knives allegedly to be used in the attack,” the press release states. “It also described a goal of stabbing as many civilians as possible, with the total number of victims to be as high as 20 to 21. The note also included a section labeled as ‘martyrdom op’ that described a plan to attack police responding to the site of the attack so Sturdivant would die a martyr.”

“It was a very well planned, thoughtful attack that he had planned and that was fortunately foiled here,” said Ferguson. “He was preparing for Jihad, and innocent people were going to die, and we were very, very fortunate they did not.”

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Sturdivant “aspired to become a ‘martyr’ for ISIS and was in the final stages of planning a mass-casualty attack on New Year’s Eve,” John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security said, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. “We commend the extraordinary work of our partners in neutralizing this threat.”

In early December 2025, Sturdivant allegedly posted “an image depicting two miniature figurines of Jesus with the on-screen text that read, ‘May Allah curse the cross worshipers.’ The post is allegedly consistent with ISIS’s rhetoric calling for the extermination of all non-believers, including Christians, Jews, and Muslims who do not agree with ISIS’s extreme ideology,” the release states, citing an arrest affidavit.

“The accused allegedly wanted to be a soldier for ISIS and made plans to commit a violent attack on New Year’s Eve in support of that terrorist group, but the FBI and our partners put a stop to that,” said FBI Director Kash Patel, per the release. “It is essential to work closely with our law enforcement partners and to quickly share information about potential threats, as demonstrated in this case. The message from the FBI is clear — anyone who supports ISIS or other terrorist groups cannot hide and will be held accountable in our justice system.”

Sturdivant is currently in federal custody. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.