OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:18 AM – Friday, January 2, 2026
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel reported that the agency thwarted an ISIS-Inspired attack planned for New Year’s Eve in North Carolina.
“The [FBI] and partners foiled another potential New Year’s Eve attack from an individual allegedly inspired by ISIS,” Patel said on X on Friday. “[FBI Charlotte] will be speaking at a press conference shortly with more details. Thanks to our great partners for working with us and undoubtedly saving lives.”
“The FBI and our partners continued working 24/7 over the holidays protecting the American people, and this case out of Charlotte foiling another alleged New Year’s Eve attacker is the latest example of their tremendous work,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News. “Our teams quickly identified the threat and acted decisively — no doubt saving American lives in the process. Thanks to our Joint Terrorism Task Force and regional partners both in New York and Western North Carolina for their efforts.”
FBI Charlotte posted, “The [FBI] and our law enforcement partners thwarted a potential terrorist attack on New Year’s Eve in North Carolina. The subject was directly inspired to act by ISIS.”
Authorities arrested 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant on Wednesday, New Year’s Eve, the day of his planned attack. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, according to U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson.
Prosecutors said that Sturdivant had recently begun communicating online with an individual he “believed to be affiliated with ISIS but, in reality, was a government online covert employee.” The criminal complaint refers to this person as “OC.” On December 14th, Sturdivant allegedly sent OC a photo of two hammers and a knife.
“During his online communications with the OC, Sturdivant said, ‘I will do jihad soon,’ and proclaimed he was ‘a soldier of the state,’ meaning ISIS,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “In subsequent online communications with the OC, Sturdivant indicated that he planned to attack a specific grocery store in North Carolina and discussed plans to purchase a firearm to use along with the knives during the attack.”
Law enforcement searched Sturdivant’s residence on December 29th, uncovering various handwritten documents, including one titled, “New Years Attack 2026,” which “listed, among other things, items such as a vest, mask, tactical gloves, and two knives allegedly to be used in the attack.”
“It also listed a goal of stabbing as many civilians as possible and [the] total number of victims as 20 to 21. The note also included a section listed as ‘martyrdom Op,’ with a plan to attack police that arrived at the site of the attack so the defendant would die a martyr,” the Attorney’s Office stated. “In addition, law enforcement seized from Sturdivant’s bedroom a blue hammer, a wooden handled hammer, and two butcher knives hidden underneath the defendant’s bed.”
During the press conference, Ferguson explained that Sturdivant planned to attack a grocery store in Mint Hill, a town about 12 miles from Charlotte.
“He was preparing for jihad and innocent people were going to die, and we’re very fortunate they did not,” Ferguson said. “But the fact that along the way in this extensive planning of this attack, he encountered not one, but two undercover officers should make the public feel very, very good and very safe because law enforcement is out there every day and we know they have a lot to do.”
Sturdivant will have a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, Ferguson said, noting that authorities “will seek that he remain detained,” but that the “ultimate sentence” is yet to be determined.
He added that the FBI took Sturdivant to a state magistrate requesting for him to be involuntarily committed “because he had threatened not only other people’s lives, but in the process said that he planned to die by a policeman shooting him.”
Despite the magistrate judge’s denial of involuntary commitment, the FBI eventually built up a case to get Sturdivant, who only turned 18 in December, detained.
FBI Special Agent in Charge James Barnacle said that the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) “collected evidence showing he turned his back on his country and his fellow citizens by pledging allegiance to ISIS with the intent of becoming a martyr.”
FBI began surveilling Sturdivant in January 2022, when he was still a minor, due to his contact via social media of “an unidentified ISIS member overseas,” who directed him to “dress in all black, knock on people’s doors, and attack them with a hammer,” Barnacle reported. He said that Sturdivant had left his house with a hammer, but his family stepped in and no charges were filed.
Though the details of his condition are unclear, the suspect had undergone psychological care in the past, and “the FBI was told he no longer had access to social media.” The Charlotte Field Office learned that he had regained his social media access before Christmas, however.
Sturdivant’s TikTok account username was “Abu Bakr al-Amriki,” a war name, or nom de guerre, meaning “Abu Bakr the American,” which has been used by multiple individuals associated with extremist groups. Abu Bakr is an Arabic name meaning “father of a young camel,” which was famously held by the first Caliph after Islamic Prophet Muhammad, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.
“The Department of Justice remains vigilant in our pursuit of evil ISIS sympathizers — anyone plotting to commit such depraved attacks will face the full force of the law,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a statement.
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