A U.S. Army veteran accused of igniting a fire outside a New York City federal building that contains an immigration court and several federal offices, including the FBI, is set to face an arson charge tied to Monday’s incident, authorities said.
Andrew Arrabaca, 43, made an initial appearance Tuesday in Manhattan federal court over the alleged confrontation outside 26 Federal Plaza. He did not enter a plea during the hearing.
Arrabaca previously served in the Army as a mechanic working on Patriot missile systems. James Barnacle, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, said Monday that Arrabaca held anti-ICE and anti-government views.
Authorities took a person into custody outside a federal building in New York City. (FNTV)
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Barnacle described him as “an anti-American, anti-government extremist.”
Public voter records indicate Arrabaca was registered as a Democrat and had also been affiliated with the left-leaning Working Families Party.
Officials said Arrabaca arrived “armed with bad intentions” and was carrying multiple items, including a pellet gun, knives, a hammer and a machete. Investigators said the upstate New York resident reached the federal building around 8:30 a.m., set off a large firework and then poured a liquid that sparked a blaze.
Footage and photos from the area captured thick smoke and vivid orange flames near an entrance to the building, along with law enforcement officers pinning down and restraining the suspect.
In addition to allegedly setting the fire, Arrabaca also fired five to seven pellets from an airsoft rifle toward the building, Barnacle said. He was arrested by federal officials a short time later and has been in custody since.
He made several anti-government and anti-ICE statements during the incident and said “he was okay if he hurt or killed people going in and out of the building, whether they were federal employees or civilians,” the FBI said.
Upon his arrest, authorities said they found Arrabaca with two axes, a hammer, a machete and three knives.
Federal prosecutors said he had been planning the attack since January, when he began buying supplies and visiting sites around New York. Defense attorneys said Arrabaca has mental health issues, and asked that he be placed in a Department of Veterans Affairs mental health hospital for evaluation and treatment.
The federal building in Lower Manhattan has been the scene of protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency charged with enforcing the nation’s immigration laws amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
One of two people hurt during Monday’s incident was an immigrant who appeared at the building for a hearing, the FBI said.
