An American Muslim convert has been arrested in New York on suspicion of planning a New Year's Eve attack on a restaurant.
Emanuel Lutchman, 25, is charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group.
Prosecutors say the ex-convict planned to carry out a machete attack on Thursday at a restaurant in Rochester, New York state.
He claimed to be receiving direction from an overseas IS member, according to US officials.
The US has stepped up security for New Year's Eve celebrations
"He planned to kill innocent civilians on New Year's Eve in the name of the terrorist organisation," said Assistant Attorney General John Carlin.
"Thankfully, law enforcement was able to intervene and thwart Lutchman's deadly plans."
The arrest comes as the US steps up security for New Year's Eve celebrations amid international fears of a terrorist attack.
About 6,000 police officers will fan out around New York City's Times Square, where one million people were expected to gather for its annual festivities.
The mayor of Rochester cancelled Thursday's fireworks display because of the arrest.
According to the criminal complaint, Lutchman expressed hatred for everything in America and talked of travelling to join Islamic State, says the FBI.
According to the criminal complaint , an individual in Syria instructed Lutchman to "do operations" and "kill 1000000s of kuffar" in order to prove his allegiance.
Lutchman - who has a criminal history dating back to 2006, including a robbery conviction - allegedly discussed the idea of using a pressure-cooker bomb with a paid FBI informant.
In addition to scouting an undisclosed restaurant/bar for a target, Lutchman also proposed kidnapping a couple of people and killing them.
Citing a lack of funds to obtain weapons, Lutchman finally settled on using knives or a machete for the attack, noting that his wife had a dagger, it is alleged.
"We just gotta show our allegiance," he told an FBI informant. "I'm ready to lose my family."
On Tuesday he went with an FBI informant to a Walmart store in Rochester where they bought balaclavas, two knives, a machete, duct tape, ammonia and latex gloves.
The informant paid $40 (£27) for the items because Lutchman did not have any money.
Lutchman was arrested on Wednesday after recording a video on his mobile phone pledging fealty to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
It is not the first IS-related terror case in Rochester. Last year a 30-year-old halal food mart owner was charged with plotting to kill US military veterans.
skynews
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