Overview
- Christian Sturdivant, 18, of Mint Hill is in federal custody on a charge of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
- Officials say he planned to attack a grocery store and a Burger King in Mint Hill using knives and hammers, and he worked at the Burger King location.
- Investigators report he pledged allegiance to ISIS in online contacts with undercover NYPD and FBI personnel, writing “I will do jihad soon” and sending images of hammers and a knife.
- A Dec. 29 search found two hammers, two butcher knives, tactical gear, and a handwritten document titled “New Years Attack 2026” that described stabbing up to 20 people and dying as a martyr.
- The FBI says it had previously encountered Sturdivant in 2022 after a foiled hammer-and-knife incident, and officials emphasized interagency work that disrupted the plot as some observers raise entrapment concerns about such stings.