FBI arrests NC teen accused of planning New Year’s Eve terrorist attack

Officials say the suspect was under surveillance and had sought weapons while communicating online with extremists.

by Laura Leslie, NC Newsline
January 2, 2026

Federal law enforcement officials announced Friday that they had foiled a planned attack “in support of ISIS” in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on New Year’s Eve.

According to Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, the suspect is 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant, an American citizen and Mint Hill resident.

Ferguson said the man had been in contact with ISIS members in Tiktok chatrooms and “had pledged allegiance to ISIS” while planning a New Year’s Eve terrorist attack on a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant in Mint Hill.

“He started reading ISIS material, started going to ISIS websites, making Tiktok videos, and eventually reached out to what he thought was a member of ISIS. In reality, it was an undercover agent with NYPD in New York,” Ferguson said. “He was preparing for jihad, and innocent people were going to die, and we were very, very fortunate they did not.” 

Ferguson said Sturdivant intended to use knives and hammers and planned to wear a Kevlar vest, but also planned to die in the attack. He was under surveillance for two weeks before his arrest on New Year’s Eve, Ferguson said. “At no time was the public in harm’s way.”

James Barnacle, the FBI special agent in charge of the Charlotte field office, said Sturdivant had been under psychological care in recent years. He said Sturdivant’s grandfather had stopped him from attacking neighbors when the suspect was 14.

“His family actively hid knives and weapons from him,” Barnacle said.

Barnacle said the FBI had been watching Sturdivant during that period in 2022, but stopped its investigation when the teen entered mental health treatment.

But last month, when Sturdivant turned 18, Barnacle said, he resumed trying to contact members of ISIS and was immediately flagged by a number of law enforcement agencies.

Barnacle said Sturdivant was seen as a credible threat. “He wrote a manifest. He stole two hammers out of the storage shed and hid them in his house. He reached out to an undercover agent and requested guns.”

Ferguson said the FBI first tried to have Sturdivant involuntarily committed, but a state magistrate denied the petition. So they obtained a warrant and arrested him for “providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization,” a charge that can carry a prison sentence of 20 years.

Sturdivant is currently being held without bail in the Gaston County jail. No attorney or public defender was listed for him at midday Friday.

Governor Josh Stein said in a statement, “Thanks to the work of the FBI and vigilant law enforcement, this potential attack was stopped before anyone was hurt. I am grateful to the brave officers who keep us safe every day.”

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Gleason for the Western District of North Carolina and DOJ Trial Attorney Elisa Poteat with the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.