NC teen Christian Sturdivant’s ‘New Years Attack 2026’ handwritten note details alleged deadly plot

MINT HILL, NORTH CAROLINA: Christian Sturdivant, 18, was arrested on Wednesday, December 31, after the FBI said they discovered evidence of a planned armed attack on New Year’s Eve.

Officials said Sturdivant shared his plans with an undercover FBI agent who was pretending to support him. Authorities said Sturdivant wrote a handwritten manifesto, “plans to execute a massacre on New Year’s Eve as people shopped for the holidays.” 

The document shows plans for an attack that could have resulted in as many as 21 victims. The note was titled “New Years Attack 2026.”

The accused made his court appearance on Friday. His next hearing is scheduled for January 7. Sturdivant has been charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign extremist group.

FBI says Mint Hill teen Christian Sturdivant planned New Year’s Eve attack

Authorities say Sturdivant was planning a New Year’s Eve attack targeting public locations in his community. Russ Ferguson, Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said Sturdivant had been communicating with extremist group members on TikTok, as per the Justice Department.

Ferguson added that Sturdivant “had pledged allegiance” while planning attacks on a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant in Mint Hill. His plan "also described a goal of stabbing as many civilians as possible, with the total number of victims to be as high as 20 to 21."

"The note also included a section labeled as ‘martyrdom op,’ that described a plan to attack police responding to the site of the attack so Sturdivant would die a martyr,” the Justice Department said in its press release.

“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 was under surveillance for two weeks before his arrest on New Year’s Eve. “At no time was the public in harm’s way,” Ferguson said. A warrant was issued, and Sturdivant was arrested on charges of providing material support to a foreign te**orist organization.

He is being held without bail at the Gaston County Jail, and no attorney or public defender was listed as of midday on Friday.

FBI had previously monitored Christian Sturdivant in 2022

James Barnacle, FBI Special Agent in Charge, said Sturdivant had been under psychological care in recent years and that his grandfather had stopped him from attacking neighbors when he was 14. 

“His family actively hid knives and weapons from him,” Barnacle said. He added that the FBI monitored Sturdivant in 2022 but ended surveillance when he entered mental health treatment. Last month, after turning 18, he began trying to contact members of a militant organization again."

Barnacle called him a credible threat, saying, “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.” The FBI first tried to have Sturdivant involuntarily committed, but a state magistrate denied the request.

Attorney General Pam Bondi even shared a post about the incident. She wrote, "This successful collaboration between federal and local law enforcement saved American lives from a horrific te**orist attack on New Year’s Eve."

"The Department of Justice remains vigilant in our pursuit of evil ISIS sympathizers — anyone plotting to commit such depraved attacks will face the full force of the law," Bondi cautioned.