A 25-year-old man who planned to attack a restaurant in upstate New York on New Year's Eve has been arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to Islamic State, the US Justice Department says.
Emanuel L. Lutchman, "claiming to receive direction from an overseas ISIL member, planned to commit an armed attack against civilians at a restaurant/bar located in the Rochester, New York, area today," the department said in a statement, referring to Islamic State by an acronym.
A criminal complaint against Lutchman, who appeared in US District Court for the Western District of New York on Thursday, described him as a "self-professed Muslim convert with a criminal history dating back to approximately 2006 ... as well as previous state mental hygiene arrests."
It said Lutchman expressed support for Islamic State in telephone conversations with a paid informant in November and December. It said that this month he was in contact with someone who identified himself as a member of the militant group in Syria.
On Tuesday, he went to a Walmart store in Rochester with another informant and bought two black ski masks, zip-ties, two knives, a machete, duct tape, ammonia and latex gloves for the planned attack, the complaint said.
He had no money, and the confidential source paid about $US40 ($A55) for the supplies, it said.
