The US Justice Department said that a 25-year-old man accused of planning 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 the Daesh militant group, The New York Times reported Friday.

Emanuel L. Lutchman, who claimed to have received direction from an alleged member of Daesh, wanted to target a restaurant in Rochester, New York, where he lives, according to a criminal complaint. Lutchman was arrested on Wednesday.

The complaint said Lutchman told a paid informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation that they could plant a bomb inside the establishment and also kidnap and kill people.

"I will take a life. I don't have a problem with that," Lutchman said, according to the complaint, which said he planned to use knives during the attack.

The complaint described Lutchman as a "self-professed Muslim convert with a criminal history dating back to approximately 2006 ... as well as previous state mental hygiene arrests."

Lutchman appeared in U.S District Court for the Western District of New York on Thursday.

The charge he faces carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Source: MENA