One in custody after NYC arson attack outside controversial ICE facility

MANHATTAN (CN) — Law enforcement arrested a U.S. Army veteran accused of starting a fire outside a federal immigration court and temporary ICE holding facility Monday in Lower Manhattan.

According to James Barnacle, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, 43-year-old Andrew Arrabaca poured gasoline on the ground outside of 26 Federal Plaza and ignited it with a lighter and a large firework in a canister.

“He then pulled out an airsoft rifle and fired five to seven pellets … in the direction of 26 Federal Plaza,” Barnacle said at a press conference Monday afternoon, hours after the incident unfolded.

Barnacle claimed Arrabaca, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 2001 to 2005 and worked as a mechanic on a missile defense system, is now an “anti-American, anti-government extremist" who targeted the building because of his disdain for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“He had a cart; he had anti-ICE literature on it,” Barnacle said. “When he was being arrested, he yelled derogatory terms toward ICE, used bad words.”

Video footage of the incident, which spread rapidly on social media Monday morning, showed a plume of smoke rising in front of 26 Federal Plaza. The facility houses multiple federal agencies including Manhattan’s largest immigration court, as well as a controversial temporary ICE holding facility that has been decried for overcrowding and a lack of hygiene.

Barnacle declined to get into the specifics of Arrabaca’s supposed anti-ICE sentiments, but he claimed the situation caused the cancellation of a naturalization ceremony and injured an immigrant heading to court.

“So, that’s quite unfortunate and quite ironic at the same time,” he said.

Barnacle said two government employees were also injured.

When pressed about Arrabaca’s criminal history, Barnacle said he has “a couple encounters with law enforcement that we’re not ready to talk about,” but “nothing rising to this level.” His last known address was in Harlem, but he appeared to take the subway to Penn Station on Sunday evening and spent the night on the street.

Barnacle added that Arrabaca had several weapons on his person in addition to the airsoft rifle, including two axes, a hammer, a machete, three fixed blade knives and six fireworks.

“Mr. Arrabaca came armed with bad intentions,” Barnacle said. “I will say that 26 Federal Plaza has long been a target of extremists, of terrorists, and today the extremism was brought here.”

No charges have been filed against Arrabaca as of Monday evening. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said law enforcement plans to search Arrabaca’s black Toyota RAV 4, still parked in Harlem.

Officers responded within two minutes of the first 911 call placed Monday morning, according to Tisch. By the time the NYPD arrived, Arrabaca was already apprehended by federal law enforcement in front of the building.

“The entire incident unfolded in view of an NYPD camera positioned on the southwest corner of Worth Street and Broadway,” Tisch added.

The police commissioner claimed Arrabaca had a sign reading “ICE Off Our Streets” in his cart.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the incident “deeply disturbing” in a statement posted to social media.

“I’m relieved no one was seriously injured and that a suspect is in custody,” Mamdani said. “My team is in touch with the NYPD and we will support the federal investigation. Our administration will continue to ensure that every New Yorker is safe in their city — and hold accountable any who threaten that.”

Once a nondescript government office, 26 Federal Plaza has taken on a role of infamy during the second Trump administration as a controversial centerpiece to its mass deportation campaign.

For months, ICE took the unprecedented step of stationing officers directly outside of the building’s 12th-floor immigration courtrooms, making arrests as noncitizens showed up for court-ordered hearings. That practice has now been largely banned by a federal judge, though the agency continues to make some arrests in the building, regardless.

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