Authorities in North Carolina say they stopped a planned New Year's Eve attack before it could unfold. Federal prosecutors on Friday announced the arrest of 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant, who they say had spent roughly a year planning an assault using knives and hammers, reports CBS News. US Attorney Russ Ferguson told reporters that Sturdivant was "preparing for jihad," and said that "innocent people were going to die" had the plot not been disrupted.
According to the FBI's Charlotte field office, Sturdivant was "directly inspired" by the Islamic State group, or ISIS. He has been charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, a federal offense often used in terrorism-related cases. Officials did not immediately detail how investigators first learned of the alleged plot or where, specifically, the attack was intended to take place.
Sturdivant came under investigation last month because of social media posts, per the AP. However, he previously caught the FBI's attention in 2022, as a minor, when he had been in contact with an ISIS member in Europe. The case follows a separate alleged New Year's Eve plot on the opposite coast. Last month, authorities in Southern California charged four people described as members of a "radical anti-government group" with planning a series of bomb attacks timed to the holiday.