"The FBI said on Friday that it thwarted an alleged plot to carry out a New Year's Eve terrorist attack on a grocery store and restaurant in North Carolina in support of the Islamic State (IS). Christian Sturdivant, 18, of Mint Hill a town outside Charlotte was arrested on 31 December as he was being released from a special medical facility."
"Investigators believe that Sturdivant, a US citizen, had been planning the attack for about a year, after a search of his home on 29 December uncovered knives and hammers under his bed, as well as detailed notes on the planned massacre. Ferguson said the suspect's notes revealed that he wanted to target Jews, Christians and LGBTQ+ individuals, and planned to die a martyr by attacking police officers that arrived at the scene."
"Sturdivant's radicalization took place online on IS websites, authorities said, and he was found to be the holder of a TikTok account that made multiple posts in support of the designated terrorist organization. He then reached out to pledge allegiance on an IS site, unwittingly doing so to an undercover New York police department agent. With that agent, whom Sturdivant believed to be an ISIS affiliate, he communicated on a range of social media platforms"
An 18-year-old, Christian Sturdivant of Mint Hill, North Carolina, was arrested on 31 December while being released from a special medical facility and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Investigators found knives, hammers, and detailed notes after searching his home on 29 December, and concluded he had been planning an attack for about a year. The notes indicated intended targets included Jews, Christians and LGBTQ+ individuals and a plan to die as a martyr by attacking responding police officers. Authorities say the radicalization occurred online on IS websites and via social media interactions with an undercover agent.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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