Who Is Emanuel Lutchman? Islamic State New Year’s Eve New York Attack Planned By Muslim Convert

UPDATE, 5:46 p.m. EST: The city of Rochester, New York, canceled its New Year’s Eve fireworks display after authorities stopped a terror plot by a man who had hoped to kill New Year’s Eve participants in the name of the Islamic State group.

The city’s Twitter account announced the update early Thursday evening.

Rochester police will be out with extra forces Thursday evening, the city’s Twitter account said. Events at Rochester’s convention center and at the ice rink in Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park will go on as planned.

UPDATE: 12:40 p.m. EST — Emanuel L. Lutchman, the 25-year-old man charged this week with attempting to materially support the Islamic State group, planned to attack a restaurant/bar Thursday in Rochester, New York, with a machete and other weapons, the government charges in a criminal complaint.

Court documents allege Lutchman had been in contact with an ISIS member overseas who encouraged him to “do operations and kill some kuffar,” using a derogatory plural term for non-Muslims. Lutchman, who told the person he hated the United States and was prepared to “give everything up” for ISIS, recruited two friends to help him with the plot. One later pulled out.

Lutchman and the other person — who was secretly working with the FBI — allegedly discussed planting a bomb inside the restaurant/bar, kidnapping and killing people and wearing masks to avoid identification. The duo bought masks, gloves, zip ties, knives, duct tape, a machete and ammonia at Walmart Tuesday night. Lutchman later said, “we just gotta do it, man.”

Wednesday, the day he was arrested, Lutchman made a video on his cell phone in which he swore loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Original story:

The U.S. Department of Justice says it arrested a 25-year-old man planning to attack people Thursday in Rochester, New York, in support of the Islamic State group. Emanuel L. Lutchman is charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS.

"According to the complaint, as part of Emanuel Lutchman’s attempt to provide material support to ISIL, he planned to kill innocent civilians on New Year’s Eve in the name of the terrorist organization," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin said in a news release Thursday. “Thankfully, law enforcement was able to intervene and thwart Lutchman's deadly plans.”

Lutchman intended to "commit an armed attack against civilians at a restaurant/bar in the Rochester, New York, area" on the behalf of the extremist organization, according to the release. He had allegedly been communicating with an ISIS militant overseas and hoped to later travel there himself.

The criminal complaint indicates that Lutchman, a U.S. citizen, describes himself as a Muslim convert. He served previous prison time for robbery and had "mental hygiene" arrests.