CHICAGO, January 6, 2026 — The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it has arrested an 18-year-old supporter of ISIS for allegedly plotting to attack customers of a supermarket and quick-service restaurant in North Carolina.
Officials said the man, Christian Sturdivant, planned to indiscriminately attack patrons of the establishments with knives and hammers on New Year’s Eve.
“Notes recovered from his home appear to reflect intent to harm as many people as possible and terrorize the Nation,” John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Justice Department's National Security Division, said in a statement.
The written materials indicated that Sturdivant believed he could kill 20 customers before turning on authorities intending to arrest him, thereby drawing their lethal fire so he would die a martyr.
The supermarket and quick-service restaurant are located in Mint Hill, a suburb of Charlotte. Neither the grocery store nor the restaurant was identified by the FBI, but local media reported that the latter is believed to be the Burger King where Sturdivant worked.
Additional targets were listed on a document retrieved from Sturdivant’s home, the FBI said. It did not reveal what other locations were on that list.
Authorities said they had been tracking Sturdivant for years because of his social media posts, which echoed the principles of ISIS. The efforts were intensified after Sturdivant posted a threat against Christians. An undercover law enforcement agent posed as a fellow ISIS “soldier” to win the suspect’s trust and learn the specifics of his plan.
The enforcement effort was conducted by a task force that included local police departments and personnel from federal groups ranging from the Department of Homeland Security to the Postal Service.
If convicted, Sturdivant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The incident was not the first time terrorists have targeted food outlets for attack. In May 2022, a 19-year-old man was arrested after killing 10 people at a Tops Friendly supermarket in a Buffalo neighborhood with a large Black population. The man, Peyton Gendron, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder.