Do F.B.I. Stings Help the Fight Against ISIS?

On New Year’s Eve, in Rochester, New York, the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors announced a major arrest: twenty-five-year-old Emanuel Lutchman, who was accused of “claiming to receive direction” from a member of ISIS and planning “to commit an armed attack against civilians” during the city’s New Year’s Eve festivities. In an affidavit, an F.B.I. agent described Lutchman as “a self-professed Muslim convert with a criminal history.” In response to the arrest, Rochester cancelled a fireworks production scheduled for that night. But Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin tried to reassure the public: “Thankfully, law enforcement was able to intervene and thwart Lutchman’s deadly plans.”