MUGSHOT AND UPDATE: What we know about the alleged ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve terror suspect

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From Fox News: The suspect accused of plotting a New Year’s Eve attack on a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in North Carolina worked at a Burger King and hid knives and hammers under his bed despite his grandparents trying to secure the potential weapons, prosecutors revealed Friday.

Christian Sturdivant, 18, of Mint Hill, a town outside Charlotte, was arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson said.

“What we do know is that the grandfather secured the knives in the home, secured the hammers, tried to make sure that Mr. Sturdivant did not have them. And, yet, when we executed the search warrant, they were found under his bed,” Ferguson told reporters at a news conference Friday.

Ferguson added the attack was planned to take place in Mint Hill, and the suspect worked at a Burger King.

Ferguson explained, “He was preparing for jihad, and innocent people were going to die. And we were very, very fortunate they did not.  I can tell you from his notes he was targeting Jews, Christians and LGBTQ individuals.”

James C. Barnacle, Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office, said the FBI first became aware of Sturdivant back in 2022, when he was just 14, and was already in contact on social media with an ISIS member in Europe.

According to the FBI’s criminal complaint, in January 2022, Sturdivant had dressed in all black and left his house to kill a neighbor with a hammer and a knife, but his grandfather restrained him.

At that time, the FBI took Sturdivant to a state magistrate judge to try to have him involuntarily committed, but the judge DENIED the request. 

He said the FBI did not give up, but kept watching Sturdivant, and thanks to that surveillance, a terror attack was just thwarted.

A press release by the Justice Department includes the following details:

According to allegations in the arrest affidavit, on December 18, 2025, the FBI in Charlotte received information that an individual later identified as Sturdivant was making multiple social media posts in support of ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization. In early December 2025, Sturdivant 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 criminal complaint alleges that on or about December 12, 2025, Sturdivant began communicating with an online covert employee, or “OC,” whom Sturdivant thought was an ISIS member. Sturdivant told the OC, “I will do jihad soon,” and proclaimed he was “a soldier of the state,” meaning ISIS. On December 14, 2025, Sturdivant allegedly sent an online message to the OC with an image of two hammers and a knife. This is significant because an article in the 2016 issue of ISIS’s propaganda magazine promoted the use of knives to conduct terror attacks in western countries. The same article inspired actual attacks in other countries. Later, Sturdivant told the OC that he planned to attack a specific grocery store in North Carolina. Sturdivant also told the OC about his plans to purchase a firearm to use along with the knives during the attack, according to the arrest affidavit.

In addition, on December 19, 2025, Sturdivant allegedly sent the OC a voice recording of Sturdivant pledging “Bayat,” a loyalty oath to ISIS.

On December 29, 2025, law enforcement conducted a search warrant at Sturdivant’s residence, where they discovered handwritten documents, one of which 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. 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.

The complaints alleges that Sturdivant lived with a relative, who secured knives and hammers away so Sturdivant could not use them for harm. Yet, law enforcement seized from Sturdivant’s bedroom a blue hammer, a wooden handled hammer, and two butcher knives which appeared hidden underneath the defendant’s bed. These items appear to be the same as the ones depicted in the online message Sturdivant previously sent to the OC.

Law enforcement also seized from Sturdivant’s bedroom a list of targets, as well as tactical gloves and a vest, acquired as part of the defendant’s planned attack.

Sturdivant remains in federal custody. If convicted, Sturdivant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine the ultimate sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

A copy of a letter has been shared by the FBI, in which Sturdivant declares that the attack is in response to the airstrikes in Syria and says he will attack police once they arrive.  The note says he wants to kill as many taghut civilians as possible, (taghut is an Islamic term for non-Muslims) and that he wants total number of victims to be at least 20-21.

The FBI released more chilling details in a press conference on Friday. Watch below:

CLICK HERE to view the criminal complaint, or read it below:

READ MORE from Fox News.

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