A former Army soldier rolled a cart of weapons up to a New York federal building, lit gasoline on fire, and fired a pellet gun toward the doors while people were trying to go to immigration court.
Story Snapshot
- Federal investigators say 43-year-old former soldier Andrew Arrabaca set a fire outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan.
- Authorities say he poured gasoline, ignited it with fireworks, and fired pellets from an airsoft rifle toward the building.
- He arrived with axes, knives, a machete, and “anti-ICE” materials, and allegedly admitted he was willing to hurt or kill people.
- Officials describe him as an “anti-government extremist,” and the Joint Terrorism Task Force is now leading the investigation.
Attack Outside A Federal Building In Lower Manhattan
On Monday morning, busy federal workers and immigrants heading to hearings stepped into a scene that looked closer to a war zone than a courthouse hallway.
Federal agents say 43-year-old former United States Army soldier Andrew Arrabaca rolled up to the entrance of 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, the home of immigration courts and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York office, with a cart loaded with gasoline, fireworks, and weapons. He then allegedly turned the front stairwell into a fire trap in a matter of seconds.
A former U.S. Army soldier toting an anti-ICE sign set off fireworks, lit a fire and shot a pellet gun Monday morning outside a Manhattan federal office building, injuring three people before security officers subdued him, authorities said. pic.twitter.com/SAPhdjL0SH
— KTLA (@KTLA) July 20, 2026
Investigators say Arrabaca poured gasoline on the ground near the building’s entrance, then lit it using a lighter and a large firework canister. Flames and thick smoke shot up along the face of the building as people scrambled away from the doors.
Video shared by news outlets shows an explosion outside the plaza followed by a cloud of dark smoke rising past the federal offices. Three people suffered minor injuries, including one immigrant on site for an immigration hearing, according to officials.
Pellet Gunfire And A Cart Full Of Weapons
Federal officials say that once the gasoline and fireworks were burning, Arrabaca pulled out what looked like a rifle but was in fact an airsoft gun, a pellet-firing weapon that can still injure at close range.
He allegedly fired five to seven pellets toward the north side of the building, in the direction of the doors people use to enter immigration court. Investigators state that federal security officers rushed him, tackled him, and disarmed him before the situation escalated further.
The gun was only part of the picture. Officials report that the cart Arrabaca pushed up to the building held two axes, a hammer, a machete, three knives, several incendiary devices, and printed materials against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of the items recovered, according to reports, was a sign reading “ICE Off Our Streets”.
For many Americans, that list of weapons raises a clear question: was this meant as protest, or as a dry run for something worse? Law enforcement is treating it as a targeted attack, not a stunt.
How Investigators Are Framing The Suspect And His Motive
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York leadership is not soft-pedaling their view of the suspect. Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle publicly labeled Arrabaca “an anti-American, anti-government extremist” and said that after his arrest, Arrabaca admitted he was targeting the building and was “OK if he hurt or killed people going in and out” whether they were federal workers or civilians.
Related social posts from the FBI note his status as a former Army soldier and say he served as a Patriot missile systems mechanic from 2001 to 2005.
Department of Homeland Security officials have described him as an anti–Immigration and Customs Enforcement “rioter,” and media outlets report he had “anti-ICE stuff on him” when taken into custody. For many Americans, that matters.
There is a difference between peaceful protest about immigration policy and rolling up to a courthouse with axes and fireworks and saying you do not care if people die. Based on the facts released so far, this looks far closer to domestic political violence than to constitutionally protected speech.
Where This Fits In The Bigger Pattern Of Anti-Government Violence
Researchers who track attacks on government buildings say that this kind of act fits a larger pattern that has grown over decades. One major study of “anti-state” plots in the United States counted 460 planned attacks against government sites and officials between 1992 and 2022, most driven by people with anti-government views.
Another long-term review of terrorism in this country found that 91 percent of attacks from 1970 to 2013 were non-lethal, meaning they injured or scared people but did not kill them. Arrabaca’s alleged attack, thankfully, falls into that low-death category.
Yet low death does not mean low stakes. Federal buildings symbolize the rule of law. Immigration courts decide the future of people who followed legal steps to be here. When someone labeled an “anti-government extremist” sets gasoline on fire at their doors, it sends a message to every clerk and every citizen who walks in: you are fair game.
That is why the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is leading this case and why federal charges are expected once prosecutors finish reviewing the evidence. The goal is simple: make clear that turning political anger into fire and gunfire at government sites crosses a hard line.
Sources:
apnews.com, usatoday.com, facebook.com, hindustantimes.com, youtube.com, washingtonpost.com, start.umd.edu
