Update: July 20, 4:45 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional details of the incident and the name of the suspect.
Update: July 20, 2:00 p.m. ET This story has been updated with additional details of the incident and number of injuries reported.
A man lit fireworks and set fire to gasoline outside of the 26 Federal Plaza building in Manhattan at 8:20 a.m. on Monday, injuring bystanders, including an immigrant New Yorker at the building for a hearing, according to federal and local law enforcement.
The suspect was immediately arrested and identified as Andrew Arrabaca, 43, by the local FBI field office.
Arrabaca allegedly “launched fireworks outside of 26 Federal Plaza, grazing a bystander and poured what is believed to be gasoline on the stairs of the entrance of the building and set it on fire,” said DHS in a post to X on Monday afternoon.
He then shot pellets out of an airsoft rifle at the building, according to James Barnacle, assistant director in charge at New York’s FBI field office.
“He was looking to harm people,” said Barnacle at a press conference on Monday afternoon. “He had two axes, a hammer, a machete and three knives.”
Arrabaca, an Army veteran from Poughkeepsie, New York, was arrested at the scene. The man previously worked as a mechanic on missile systems, according to Barnacle.
Two pellet guns were recovered from the man’s bag by law enforcement, along with a manifesto, according to the statement from DHS on X.
Barnacle called Arrabaca an “anti-government extremist” and noted anti-ICE literature on a cart in the suspect’s possession.
Arrabaca has not yet been charged with a crime and no lawyer could be identified for comment.
Four civilians sustained minor injuries. Three were treated by EMS at the scene, and another was transported to the hospital, a spokesperson for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) told Documented.
The events occurred at a large federal building in Lower Manhattan where many immigrant New Yorkers come to attend immigration court and appointments with the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS). The building has been the site of many infamous and violent arrests of immigrants by federal immigration officers under the second Trump administration.
The fire department initially received a call about an outdoor fire on Federal Plaza between Ward Street and Lafayette Street at 8:30 a.m., according to the spokesperson at FDNY.
After the incident, a naturalization ceremony was cancelled, said Barnacle.
“That’s quite unfortunate and quite ironic,” he said.
Video of the incident posted to Instagram by photographer Cristina Panagi showed billowing black and white smoke erupting from the ground adjacent to the Federal Plaza building. It also showed a man being arrested by officers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Video posted to X by ABC 7 shows flames rising from the pavement after a man throws liquid on the ground and lights it on fire.
Officials wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) uniforms ran out of the building with guns as officers effected the arrest.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the event “deeply disturbing.”
“I’m relieved no one was seriously injured and that a suspect is in custody. My team is in touch with the NYPD and we will support the federal investigation,” he wrote on X. “Our administration will continue to ensure that every New Yorker is safe in their city — and hold accountable any who threaten that.”
This is breaking news. Documented is following the story as it develops.
