VIDEO: Shocking Federal Firebombing Caught On Video

A red alert button with the word 'ALERT' above it — SHOCKING NEWS ALERT

A 43-year-old former Army mechanic walked up to a New York federal building with gasoline, fireworks, weapons, and anti-ICE papers—and then lit the match.

Story Snapshot

Army veteran Andrew Arrabaca is accused of igniting gasoline and firing a pellet gun outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan.
The building houses an immigration court, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offices, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Officials say he carried axes, knives, a machete, pellet guns, and a manifesto with anti-ICE material.
Investigators are treating the case as an anti-government extremist attack with potential domestic terrorism charges on the table.

The attack at 26 Federal Plaza and what happened on the ground

On a Monday morning around the start of the workday, federal employees and visitors streamed into 26 Federal Plaza, a massive federal building in Lower Manhattan that houses an immigration court and ICE offices.

According to FBI officials, Andrew Arrabaca wheeled up to an entrance with gasoline, a large firework, and a lighter. He allegedly poured gasoline on the ground near an employee entrance, then used the lighter and firework to ignite it, sending flames and smoke up the side of the building.

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

Witnesses and security cameras captured what came next. After the fire flared, Arrabaca allegedly pulled out an airsoft rifle, a type of pellet or BB gun, and fired between five and seven pellets toward the building’s facade.

The FBI New York office later said he “shot a pellet gun at the north side of the building.” Federal Protective Service officers and other law enforcement then rushed him, tackled him, and took him into custody before he could reload or move deeper into the complex.

Who Andrew Arrabaca is and what officials say he intended

Federal authorities identified the suspect as 43-year-old Andrew Arrabaca, a former U.S. Army soldier who served as a mechanic on Patriot missile systems in the early 2000s. That service record matters here, because officials say he did not just stumble into this.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle told reporters Arrabaca “came armed with bad intentions” and said that, after his arrest, Arrabaca admitted he targeted the building and was willing to hurt or kill people entering or leaving, whether federal workers or civilians.

When officers searched him and his belongings, they did not find a confused protester; they found a mobile weapons cache. According to Barnacle and other officials, Arrabaca carried two axes, a machete, a hammer, three knives, fireworks, gasoline, at least one air gun, and two pellet guns.

The Department of Homeland Security said officers also recovered a manifesto from his bag. For many Americans, that checklist—fire, weapons, manifesto—sounds less like a spur-of-the-moment stunt and more like the classic pattern of a planned extremist attack.

Anti-ICE motive, extremist label, and the domestic terrorism puzzle

The target was not random office space. The Jacob K. Javits Federal Building at 26 Federal Plaza houses ICE’s New York field office and an immigration court, both lightning rods in the country’s bitter fights over immigration enforcement.

Authorities say Arrabaca had a cart full of anti-ICE pamphlets, “anti-ICE stuff,” and a sign reading “ICE out of our streets.” Witnesses and the FBI say he shouted insults and derogatory terms at ICE during the incident and as he was arrested.

FBI officials did not hedge on how they view his ideology. Barnacle described Arrabaca as “an anti-American, anti-government extremist.” The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force took the lead on the investigation, a strong signal that the government sees the case in the domestic terrorism lane, not just arson and weapons charges.

That fits a broader pattern: researchers have found hundreds of anti-state plots and attacks on U.S. government targets over the past few decades, most driven by anti-government ideologies.

Injuries, damage, and what this says about risk and response

The fire and pellets could have been far worse. Three people—two government employees and one civilian—suffered minor injuries and were treated and released. The flames scorched the building but did not cause major structural damage, thanks to quick action from on-site officers and emergency crews.

The FBI and local police locked down the scene and swept the area for other threats. Officials say there is no sign of a wider plot or ongoing danger to the public.

Federal data on terrorism shows that most attacks in the United States do not end in mass casualties, but they still carry huge symbolic weight. For many Americans, this incident reinforces two hard truths at once. First, government buildings that handle hot-button issues like immigration are obvious targets for lone extremists.

Second, armed and prepared officers on site are often the only thing standing between a dramatic scare and a national tragedy. In that sense, this case underlines why serious security, not slogans, still matters.