Man arrested after fireworks and arson attack outside Manhattan federal building
A former Army soldier was charged with arson and other offenses after setting off fireworks, brandishing a pellet gun and igniting a fire outside a federal office building in Lower Manhattan, injuring three people.
Security camera footage released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office showed a man arriving at 26 Federal Plaza with a wagon of supplies, assembling a fireworks dispenser and igniting it on Monday morning. The device discharged dozens of rockets, some striking the wagon and the sidewalk, while a pellet-gun-like weapon was later pointed at passersby. The suspect then dumped a bucket of liquid, igniting a blaze that engulfed the building’s entrance steps.
Federal prosecutors say 43-year-old Andrew Arrabaca, a former U.S. Army specialist, confessed to the attack and was taken into custody without bail. He faced additional charges after investigators determined he had carried anti-ICE signage, made anti-government statements, and possessed axes, knives, a hammer and a machete. Three individuals sustained minor injuries, including a person attending an immigration court hearing.
Arrabaca, who had been living in his car and sleeping in a park, was described by a magistrate as “quite clearly ill.” He had previously been prescribed medication for a mental health condition but stopped taking it a year earlier. His defense requested a mental-health evaluation at a Veterans Health Administration facility, but he was ordered to remain jailed pending evaluation.
During the incident, a security officer tackled Arrabaca after he poured gasoline near an employee entrance and set the sidewalk alight. Prosecutors said the attack had been planned for months, with the suspect traveling to upstate New York to acquire weapons and to Pennsylvania to purchase fireworks. Arrabaca previously worked on Patriot missile systems while serving in the Army from 2001 to 2004 and spent a year in the New York Army National Guard.