The FBI announced this week that agents disrupted an alleged ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve terror plot in Mint Hill, North Carolina, arresting an 18-year-old U.S. citizen before he could carry out a mass attack. Officials say the suspect communicated online with what he believed were ISIS operatives and intended to strike a grocery store or fast-food restaurant on December 31.
Federal authorities identified the accused as Christian Sturdivant, who prosecutors allege had been planning violence for roughly a year and shared a written plan titled “New Years Attack 2026.” According to court filings, agents recovered knives, hammers, a Kevlar-like vest, and handwritten notes describing an intent to stab and maim, then ambush responding officers.
This is exactly the sort of plot our law enforcement partners are trained to prevent, and their swift action should be applauded without hesitation. The FBI’s undercover work — which had the suspect talking to agents who posed as supporters — kept the public safe and stopped a young man from becoming another headline of blood and tragedy.
But while we rightly celebrate the arrest, the case raises uncomfortable questions about how a clearly disturbed young man was left free to plan an attack. Officials say he was on the FBI’s radar years ago after a 2022 incident in which family members restrained him, and that attempts to pursue involuntary psychiatric care were not successful. If judges and social-services systems won’t act to protect communities, law enforcement will be forced to shoulder the burden alone.
There is no escaping the role of online radicalization in this tragedy averted; the suspect reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS over social media and followed propaganda that instructs lone actors on how to kill innocents. Big Tech platforms continue to serve as radicalization pipelines, and yet their executives posture about responsibility while doing little to stop foreign terrorist content from reaching vulnerable Americans.
Conservatives should demand tougher consequences for both the propagandists and the enablers. That means real accountability for social platforms, better cooperation between federal and local officials, and a criminal justice system that prioritizes public safety over bureaucratic horse-trading. We must also empower families and community groups to detect and intervene when young people drift toward violent ideologies.
This incident proves once again that vigilance and decisive policing save lives, and hardworking Americans owe a debt of gratitude to the agents who disrupted this plot. But gratitude without reform is hollow — we should use this close call to push for stronger protections, firmer courts, and a cultural rejection of the violent ideologies that seek to destroy our way of life. Support law enforcement, demand action from tech companies, and never let our guard down.
