'I will take a life': Man charged over New Year's Eve attack plot in Rochester, New York
AP
January 1, 2016, 5:08 pm
An ex-convict seeking to prove he was worthy of joining the Islamic State group planned to carry out a New Year's Eve attack at a bar using a machete and knives provided by an FBI informant, US authorities have announced.
Emanuel Lutchman, of Rochester, New York, has been charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists, prosecutors said.
Officials said he was snared in an FBI sting involving three paid informants.
He was arrested on Wednesday. His lawyer, Steven Slawinski, declined to comment on the charges.
Lutchman, 25, is a convert to Islam who said he received direction from an overseas IS member and planned to carry out an attack at a bar-restaurant in Rochester on Thursday, authorities wrote in court papers. The name of the business wasn't released.
According to the FBI, Lutchman and an informant went to a Walmart store to buy knives, a machete, ski masks and plastic cable ties for the attack.
Lutchman had no money, so the informant paid $40 for the items, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
Lutchman was described in court papers as having a criminal history stretching back a decade, including a 2006 robbery conviction that led to a five-year prison sentence and arrests for mental health issues.
State correction records show he initially went into state custody in November 2006, was released to community supervision in September, 2010, and went back to prison three more times before being discharged in December 2013.
Governor Andrew Cuomo told Time Warner Cable News that officials believe Lutchman became a Muslim while serving his sentence at Wyoming Correctional Facility in western New York.
On Thursday, a New Year's Eve fireworks celebration in Rochester was cancelled so that police officers could be redeployed throughout the city, Mayor Lovely Warren said.
