Army Veteran Sets Fire Outside NYC Federal Building, Arrested
A former U.S. Army soldier has been arrested after igniting a fire in front of the federal building at 26 Federal Plaza.
Andrew Arrabaca, 43, allegedly fired a pellet airsoft gun and set off fireworks on Monday morning, then poured an accelerant onto the building’s entrance stairs, causing a blaze.
Federal agents tackled Arrabaca, who was armed with a machete, two axes, three knives and the pellet gun.
Three people sustained minor injuries, including an immigrant attending a status hearing and a government employee. The fire department extinguished the flame.
The incident, labeled by the Department of Homeland Security a “anti‑ICE rioter,” highlights tensions around the federal immigration agencies' presence in lower Manhattan.
Arrabaca is said to have made anti‑government and anti‑ICE statements during the event; the FBI described him as an anti‑American extremist.
The ex‑Army specialist, who served from 2001‑04 in the regular Army and 2004‑05 in the National Guard, left the service as a specialist without overseas deployments.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani dubbed the incident “deeply disturbing,” pledging continued safety measures for New Yorkers.
