Suspected Islamic State supporter arrested in New York for New Year’s Eve

An alleged ISIS supporter who allegedly meant to commit an armed machete attack against random people at a restaurant in Rochester on New Year’s Eve was arrested, authorities announced Thursday.

The FBI says Lutchman and an accomplice purchased knives and a machete for use during the attack.

Late this month, he allegedly told the informant he had been in contact with someone who identified himself as an ISIS member in Syria, and that he relayed his personal “hatred for everything in America” and his intention to join the group overseas, according to the complaint.

Emanuel Lutchman, 25, has been charged over the suspected plot to kill innocent civilians in the Rochester area of the city tonight. He was snared in an Federal Bureau of Investigation sting, the prosecutors said. One of them paid for masks, zip-ties, knives, duct tape, ammonia and latex gloves that were allegedly supposed to be used in the attack, the court documents show.

According to the criminal complaint, Lutchman was convicted in 2006 of second-degree robbery and served approximately five years in prison.

“That’s what my plan, that’s on my mind, that’s all I been thinking about”, he reportedly said.

The report said that on Wednesday, the day of his arrest, Lutchman made a video on his phone swearing loyalty to IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“This New Year’s Eve prosecution underscores the threat of ISIL even in upstate NY but demonstrates our determination to immediately stop any who would cause harm in its name”, said William Hochul Jr., the US attorney for the Western District of NY.

Authorities in the West are on edge as 2016 arrives, especially in the wake of the Paris attacks in November that killed 130 people, and a deadly December 2 gun attack in San Bernardino, California by a Muslim couple believed to have been inspired by IS ideology.