Sometimes we get good news. This is one of those cases; On Friday, we learned from FBI Director Kash Patel that the FBI and law enforcement partners foiled a planned ISIS-inspired attack in North Carolina. Director Patel announced the plot and its interruption on his X official account:
@FBI and partners thwarted another potential New Year's Eve attack by an individual allegedly inspired by ISIS.@FBICharlotte will speak at a press conference soon with more details.
Thank you to our amazing partners for working with us and undoubtedly saving lives.— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) January 2, 2026
As is often the case, the goblin who was reportedly planning the attack was caught by a law enforcement officer posing as a human online. associated with Islamic State:
Christian Sturdivant, 18, of Mint Hill, a town near Charlotte, was arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, said Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
“The FBI and our partners continued to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the holidays to protect the American people, and this case happened in Charlotte. disruption of another supposed New Year Attacker Eve is the latest example of their tremendous work,” FBI Director Cash Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Our teams quickly identified the threat and acted decisively, undoubtedly saving American lives in the process. Thank you to our Joint Terrorism Task Force and regional partners in New York and Western North Carolina for their efforts.”
Good job! Of course, the job goes more smoothly when, as in this case, the accused terrorist turns out to be, frankly, not the sharpest tool in the shed. But this often happens with such street attackers.
Prosecutors said the alleged plot was foiled after Sturdivant recently began communicating online with a man he “believed to be affiliated with ISIS but was actually a covert online government operative,” referred to in the criminal complaint as “OK.” In one message on Dec. 14, Sturdivant allegedly sent OC an image of two hammers and a knife.
“During an online exchange with OC, Sturdivant said, ‘I will soon be doing jihad,’ and stated that he was a ‘soldier of the state,’ referring to ISIS,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
This is not the first such goblin to be caught for chatting with some online rand about his plans.
A local report from North Carolina's WSOC reported that Sturdivant was planning to attack a grocery storee and a local fast food restaurant in Mint Hill.
#NEW: A Mint Hill man is accused of planning to use knives and hammers to carry out a deadly attack at a grocery store and fast food restaurant in New York City.
The suspect is 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant.
— Hunter Saenz (@Hunt_Saenz) January 2, 2026
Finally, here is the weapon that Sturdivant apparently planned to use.
— Ward Clark (@TheGreatLander) January 2, 2026
Now, with all that said, first of all, good job to the FBI and local law enforcement for smoking this guy out. But this case is a little unusual; this guy doesn't seem to be a recent immigrant from a predominantly Muslim country; no, this guy seems to be homegrown. And among the evidence taken was handwritten notewhich described two planned attacks: one at Burger King and one at a grocery store. The note also outlined plans to attack first responders when they arrived, although attacking armed police with a hammer and knife probably wouldn't have worked. Sturdivant's memo also talks about plans to attack non-Muslims, “LGBTQ people,” capitalists, “democracy, republicanism,” law enforcement and military personnel.
Sturdivant has apparently been on the FBI's radar since at least 2022, when his grandfather said he stopped Sturdivant from attacking a neighbor.
Note the targets described in the note, which include “non-Muslims” and “capitalists”, as well as the names of both political parties. This is my guess, but it seems that this is a person infected not only with radical Islam, but also with leftist ideology. This is a devil's brew that could have ended in tragedy if Sturdivant hadn't been stopped.
Sturdivant is now in federal custody. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned.
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