Army veteran arrested after igniting fireworks and fire outside Manhattan federal building
Federal and city authorities detained a 43-year-old former Army serviceman who set off fireworks, poured flammable liquid and started a blaze outside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, injuring three people.
Federal agents and New York police arrested Andrew Arrabaca, 43, a U.S. Army veteran from Poughkeepsie, after he ignited a bundle of fireworks and doused the exterior of 26 Federal Plaza with flammable liquid on Monday morning. The building houses agencies such as the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
According to FBI New York Assistant Director James Barnacle, Arrabaca was carrying two axes, a machete, three knives, air-soft guns, fireworks and other devices. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the suspect also fired several pellets into the air before setting the fire. Federal agents tackled him and the fire was extinguished by the department.
Three individuals sustained minor injuries, including two government employees; one person was grazed by fireworks and a security officer was hurt while subduing the suspect. The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is leading the investigation.
Authorities seized Arrabaca’s vehicle and are seeking a search warrant for its contents, which police say included a manifesto and a cart bearing the slogan “ICE off our streets.” Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the incident as “deeply disturbing” and pledged cooperation with the federal probe.