LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Federal officials say a U.S. Army vet started a large fire, shot a pellet gun and set off a firework outside a building where ICE has offices in New York City yesterday morning. Reporter Gwynne Hogan says three people suffered minor injuries.
GWYNNE HOGAN: Federal authorities identified the man involved as 43-year-old Andrew Arrabaca, who'd been in the Army, where he worked as a Patriot missile mechanic in the early 2000s. The Department of Homeland Security is calling him an anti-ICE rioter, and federal charges against him are still pending. Videos posted to social media show a man dumping a bucket of liquid and lighting it on fire, followed by clouds of smoke. Arrabaca was apprehended within minutes and quickly tackled to the ground by federal officers on scene.
The attack happened outside 26 Federal Plaza, a towering government office building in Lower Manhattan. Inside, ICE has several floors of offices where immigrants can be arrested, as well as holding cells for immigrants after their arrests. James Barnacle, the assistant director of New York's FBI field office, told reporters yesterday Arrabaca had a sign with him that read, ICE off our streets, and yelled derogatory statements about ICE during his arrest.
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JAMES BARNACLE: Mr. Arrabaca came armed with bad intentions. I will say that 26 Federal Plaza has long been a target of extremists, of terrorists. And today the extremism was brought here.
HOGAN: The building has been the focal point of many protests since ICE arrests ramped up under President Donald Trump last year, but they've largely been peaceful. Of the three people who had minor injuries, Barnacle said two were government employees and one was a bystander, an immigrant trying to attend their court hearing. Arrabaca is in federal custody waiting to be charged. Information about a lawyer representing him wasn't available right away.
For NPR News, I'm Gwynne Hogan in New York.
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