 "US says it foils alleged knife attack inspired by Islamic State on New Year’s Eve")
The US Justice Department said on Friday that it had thwarted an alleged Isis-inspired plot by a North Carolina resident to carry out a knife-and-hammer attack on New Year’s Eve.
An 18-year-old man, Christan Sturdivant of Mint Hill, North Carolina, has been charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, the department said in a statement.
Sturdivant has not yet entered a plea in the case.
An FBI affidavit filed in the case said Sturdivant came under investigation last month following information that an account that officials say was later connected to Sturdivant had made social media posts supportive of IS.
The affidavit says Sturdivant had been on the FBI’s radar in January 2022, when he was a minor, after officials learned that he had been in contact with an IS member in Europe and had received instructions to dress in all black and commit attacks with a hammer.
According to the Justice Department, FBI agents who searched his home recovered a handwritten document titled “New Years Attack 2026,” which allegedly outlined plans to stab as many as 20 people and assault responding police officers.
With inputs from agencies